Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reporting a record-high 2,432 cases, 23 deaths; OHA calling for 4-week lockdown in hard-hit regions; No TTC fare hike in 2021
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Thursday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
2:45 p.m.: A sudden and steep COVID-19 outbreak at Joyceville Institution - a medium-security federal prison in Kingston - has seen 80 inmates test positive Thursday after having previously reported no active cases.
The Correctional Service of Canada reported the outbreak early Thursday afternoon, after announcing earlier in the day that it was introducing heightened measures across all correctional facilities in Ontario, including the temporary suspension of all in-person visits.
The Star's Jim Rankin and Kevin Jiang has more details.
2:35 p.m.: Saskatchewan has more than 100 people who have died from COVID-19, with seven more deaths reported.
Health officials say those who died were 40 and older, with five of them 80 and older.
The province's pandemic death toll now sits at 105.
Another 238 cases of COVID-19 were reported and officials say 126 people are in hospital.
Health officials announced in a news release the isolation period for people positive with COVID-19 is now 10 days, down from 14.
They did not provide an explanation for the change.
2:35 p.m.: Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting six new cases of COVID-19.
Officials say as of Thursday, 20 cases have been confirmed in an outbreak at a Shannex residential facility in Saint John.
Also as of Thursday, 13 cases have been confirmed in an outbreak at the Edmundston Regional Hospital.
The province has 55 active cases of COVID-19 with three people in hospital, including two in intensive care.
2:30 p.m.: Eight nuns living at a suburban Milwaukee convent have died of COVID-19 in the last week, according to the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province.
A statement from the congregation says there are other confirmed cases of the coronavirus among the 88 sisters living at the Notre Dame of Elm Grove. The deaths of the eight nuns occurred since Dec. 9.
All CDC guidelines are being followed regarding the care of sisters affected by COVID-19 and to avoid spread of the virus, including wearing masks, social distancing and handwashing," the statement said.
The outbreak comes months after six nuns at Our Lady of Angels Convent in Greenfield died of COVID-19 in less than a month.
2:15 p.m.: U.S. Congressional leaders were inching towards agreement Thursday on a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package that would include a $600 cheque in the Christmas stockings of most Americans.
Democrats and Republicans woke up on a wintry morning hoping to iron out the final details of a plan which would also extend a helping hand to businesses and $300 a week to the unemployed.
Despite the lack of a final handshake, there seemed to be little question that a deal would materialize and that the final haggling would not derail it.
2 p.m.: Manitoba health officials are reporting 221 new COVID-19 cases and 14 additional deaths.
Daily case counts are on a downward trend in the wake of restrictions that were imposed in November on public gatherings and business openings.
Health officials say intensive care bed usage remains 50 per cent above normal pre-pandemic levels.
1:55 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford says his government is considering further measures to address rapidly rising COVID-19 cases across the province.
Ford says the province won't impose a curfew, but a variety of potential measures are being discussed.
The premier says his government needs to weigh how further lockdowns could affect a number of sectors before any new restrictions are implemented.
He also says if new lockdowns are imposed, the province will need to give people time to prepare.
Ford says he is troubled by a spike in cases in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, which he says must be addressed.
1:40 p.m.: Nunavut is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.
There are 37 cases in Nunavut, all in Arviat, a community of about 2,800 on the coast of Hudson Bay.
Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson urged Nunavummiut to keep following public health orders.
Patterson says while Nunavut waits for its first doses of the Moderna vaccine, residents should remain vigilant and remember that COVID-19 is here for the long term.
So far, 222 cases have recovered in the territory.
1:30 p.m.: A new field hospital being set up on Edmonton's University of Alberta campus will be operational by January, but Health Minister Tyler Shandro says it remains a last-ditch contingency.
Shandro says the temporary 100-bed facility would only be necessary if current hospital limits, including creating up to 2,250 beds for COVID-19 patients, are reached.
The project is being done with help from the Canadian Red Cross and is being set it up inside the Universiade Pavilion.
The cavernous, multi-purpose sports facility, just south of the downtown, is better known as the Butterdome given its rectangular shape and yellow exterior.
If necessary, the field hospital is to be used for non-critical patients and patients who are recovering from COVID-19 but are at low risk of transmitting the novel coronavirus.
1:05 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford pledges up to $1.9 billion a year for four years to hire 27,000 more employees for understaffed nursing homes, such as personal support workers, registered nurses.
1:05 p.m.: There are three new cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Health officials say the source of all three infections is still under investigation.
All three cases affect people in the eastern region of the province, and all patients are self-isolating.
Newfoundland and Labrador has 24 active cases of COVID-19, with 367 cases confirmed since the onset of the pandemic.
1 p.m.: A Statistics Canada report released Thursday says 97 per cent of Canadians surveyed in September reported they wore a mask in public when physical distancing was difficult.
The analysis, part of the Canadian Community Health Survey, also found three quarters would get a COVID-19 vaccine when available with the willingness highest in Prince Edward Island and lowest in Alberta.
12:41 p.m. A lawyer for the Hudson's Bay Co. says Ontario's regulations forcing some retailers to close while others with similar merchandise remain open are irrational and arbitrary."
Jonathan Lisus told a video hearing with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice today that the province's regulations make no rational distinction" between the department store and some of the big box and discount retailers which are allowed to remain open.
He says there are hundreds of chain retail stores open for business that look just like HBC" with the sole distinction that they sell an unspecified, undefined amount of so called" groceries.
Lisus notes, for example, that large swaths of Walmart and Costco sell very similar products to HBC, while discount retailer Dollarama sells substantially non-essential goods with its food offerings consisting mostly of candies, sweets and some canned goods - but no fresh groceries.
12:30 p.m.: From speculation that the coronavirus was created in a lab to hoax cures, an overwhelming amount of false information clung to COVID-19 as it circled the globe in 2020.
Public health officials, fact checkers and doctors tried to quash hundreds of rumours in myriad ways. But misinformation around the pandemic has endured as vexingly as the virus itself. And with the U.S., U.K. and Canada rolling out vaccinations this month, many falsehoods are seeing a resurgence online.
Here's a look at five stubborn myths around COVID-19 that were shared this year and continue to travel.
12 p.m.: A U.S. college student and her boyfriend have been sentenced to four months in prison in the Cayman Islands for violating strict COVID-19 measures following a recent ruling that will be appealed, their attorney said Thursday.
Skylar Mack, 18, of Georgia, and Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, of the Cayman Islands, have been in prison since Tuesday, when the ruling was issued. They had both pleaded guilty, but their attorney, Jonathon Hughes, said he will argue for a less severe sentence next week.
They're two young people who have never been in trouble before," he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. This is the first time they've had interaction with police, the courts, prison."
Mack arrived in the Cayman Islands on Nov. 27 and was supposed to undergo a two-week quarantine as mandated by the government, which electronically tracks anyone who arrives in the British Caribbean territory. However, she broke quarantine on Nov. 29 when her boyfriend picked her up to attend a water sports event, Hughes said.
11:45 a.m.: Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19.
The case involves a man in his 30s who travelled to the Island from outside Atlantic Canada.
P.E.I. is also easing lockdown restrictions starting Friday.
Chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison said today limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings will be increased to members of a household plus ten more people.
11:30 a.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting six new cases of COVID-19, three of which are in the Halifax area.
Health officials said today of the three Halifax cases, one involves a close contact of a previously reported case, one is travel related and the third is under investigation.
The province says two cases in the western health zone are travel related, and says the sixth case is located in the northern zone and involves a contact of a previously reported case.
Authorities say no one is hospitalized with the disease and the province has 50 active cases of COVID-19.
11:15 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 1,855 new cases of COVID-19 and 22 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health officials said today 1,002 people were in hospital with COVID-19, a rise of 27 from the previous day. Of those, 134 people were in intensive care, a rise of six.
The province says 969 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total number of people vaccinated in the province to 2,582.
Quebec has reported a total of 171,028 COVID-19 infections and 7,635 deaths linked to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.
10:55 a.m.: Ontario's hard-hit tourism industry will take years to recover and must also adapt to changes because of COVID-19, says Minister Lisa MacLeod.
In unveiling a five-year list of priorities for the government - including a focus on revitalizing Ontario Place, offering year-round activities around the province, promoting Indigenous and LGBTQ tourism events as well as e-gaming - the government will next hold consultations and hopes to have a firm strategy in place by the spring.
The Star's Kristin Rushowy has more details.
10:50 a.m.: In Ontario's long-term care homes, 819 residents currently have COVID-19 and 13 new deaths have been reported today.
The province says 140 of its 626 long-term care homes are experiencing an outbreak.
10:50 a.m.: A hospital in Listowel, Ont., is closing one of its units to admissions due to a COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened 10 people.
The Listowel and Wingham Hospitals Alliance says the outbreak at the Listowel Memorial Hospital has been linked to three cases in patients and seven in staff.
It says the hospital's medicine unit is closed to admissions and anyone who would have been sent there will instead go to the facility's complex care unit or to neighbouring hospitals.
It says the hospital's emergency department, ambulatory services, operating rooms and other services remain open.
The hospital has also paused in-patient visits, with a few exceptions.
The hospital network says all staff and physicians who worked at the hospital since Friday have been asked to take a COVID-19 test.
10:45 a.m.: Ontario is reporting an additional 170 cases in public schools across the province, bringing the total in the last two weeks to 1,826 and 7,016 overall since school began.
In its latest data released Thursday morning, the province reported 143 more students were infected for a total of 1,519 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been an overall total of 4,884.
The data shows there are 26 more staff members infected for a total of 300 the last two weeks - and an overall total of 1,037.
There are 955 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is 19.78 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.
Twenty-two schools were closed because of an outbreak, two more than the previous day. The data doesn't indicate where they are but it does note that all schools in the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit area are currently closed for in-person learning.
There are 15 schools in closed in Toronto after it was announced Wednesday night that Nelson Mandela Park Public School would be shut down until the new year due to an outbreak.
It joins 11 other Toronto District School Board schools: Clairlea Public School, City Adult Learning Centre, David Lewis P.S., Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy, Grenoble P.S., Humber Summit Middle School, Humewood Community School, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute, Oakridge Junior P.S., R.H. McGregor E.S. and Thorncliffe Park P.S.
The three Catholic elementary schools closed are: All Saints, St. Aidan and St. Conrad.
There is a lag between the daily provincial data at 10:30 a.m. and news reports about infections in schools. The provincial data on Thursday is current as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. It doesn't indicate where the place of transmission occurred.
The Toronto District School Board updates its information on current COVID-19 cases throughout the day on its website. As of 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, there were 452 students infected, 100 staff and 799 resolved cases.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board also updates its information on its website. As of 10:37 a.m. Thursday, there were 76 schools with at least one active case. There are 116 active student cases and 22 staff.
Epidemiologists have told the Star that the rising numbers in the schools aren't a surprise, and that the cases will be proportionate to the amount of COVID that is in the community.
10:40 a.m.: Quebec says it's preparing to have another 21 COVID-19 vaccinations sites operational across the province by Monday.
The new clinics will be in addition to the two vaccine distribution sites that opened earlier this week at two long-term care homes in Montreal and Quebec City.
Health Minister Christian Dube said in a statement the 21 new sites will be located in long-term care homes and in hospitals.
He says most of those sites should be operational by Monday and should have three weeks worth of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Health Department says 1,613 received the vaccine as of Tuesday night.
It expects 4,875 doses will be administered by the end of this week.
10:25 a.m.: Given surging COVID-19 levels, the city is cancelling CampTO recreation camps and winter instructional programs that were supposed to start Monday.
CampTO programs provided Toronto children with a summer camp experience, including traditional camp activities that incorporated public health measures like physical distancing.
While CampTO operated safely and successfully over the summer with these measures in place, Toronto's overall COVID-19 case numbers and daily case counts are much higher now," the City said in a statement.
The camps were scheduled to begin Monday, to align with when the school winter break began, with 706 registered for holiday camps, 441 for Learn-to-Skate programs and 4,919 for instructional skiing.
The Star's David Rider has the details.
10:05 a.m. (updated, corrects the number of deaths): Ontario is reporting a record-high 2,432 cases, with another 23 deaths.
The seven-day average is up to a record of 2,026 cases daily, or 97 weekly per 100,000, the Star's Ed Tubb reports.
There were 58,178 completed tests, with four per cent positivity.
Locally, Toronto has 737 more cases, Peel (434), York (209), Windsor-Essex (190), Hamilton (142) and Halton (102).
The province says it has conducted 58,178 tests since the last daily report.
In total, 919 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 263 in intensive care.
The province also says 172 people are on ventilators in hospital.
The latest figures bring the total of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 148,967, with 4,058 deaths, and 127,425 cases resolved.
9:52 a.m. Ontario's hospitals are calling for new and stricter lockdowns in hard-hit regions to halt the rapid spread of COVID-19.
The Ontario Hospital Association's board of directors is making the request to the province after holding an emergency meeting to discuss hospital capacity issues amid surging infections.
It is asking the government to implement a four-week lockdown in every public health unit with an infection rate of 40/100,000 population or higher.
It says the move is necessary to protect people and ensure that hospitals do not face a surge in COVID-19 patients in January.
The association says the province's lockdown restrictions should also be rapidly" reassessed by independent experts to determine if additional measures are required.
It says the government should also offer paid sick leave and isolation accommodation to help those who cannot afford to take time off work if they contract the virus.
The Star's Rob Ferguson has more details.
9:25 a.m. Canada's global scramble in the spring to buy personal protective equipment for front-line health workers taught the federal Liberal government a painful lesson - that it had to get a jump on buying vaccines, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In his first specific admission of where his government made mistakes during the pandemic, Trudeau told an interviewer that he wished his government had acted sooner to procure PPE - masks, face shields, gowns and gloves - in January.
Looking back, he wished that when Dr. Theresa Tam started telling us about the potential of the concerning news coming out in January, coming out of China, we would have immediately turned around and started to procure lots of PPE," Trudeau told CITY-TV.
At the beginning of the pandemic in March and April, where they were real concerns about front-line health workers who were reusing masks and having to bring them home and wash them, that was something that I would have loved to have been able to avoid."
Read the full story from the Star's Tonda MacCharles
9:18 a.m. Soon, there could be two.
Health Canada is expected to make a regulatory decision imminently on a second COVID-19 vaccine.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said shipments of the American-developed Moderna vaccine candidate are waiting to be transported into this country if and when the green light is given.
The first fully tested vaccine, from Pfizer-BioNTech, rolled out to long-term-care residents and health-care workers this week. Trudeau has said that initial supply could be bolstered by as many as 168,000 Moderna doses before the end of the year.
The existence of more than one effective, authorized COVID-19 vaccine has long been anticipated.
Read the full story from the Star's Alex Boyd
9:07 a.m. European authorities are pushing for a compressed approval timeline for the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE to start an immunization campaign across the continent just after Christmas.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pointed to Dec. 27 as the date for the first vaccinations, saying in a tweet that it's Europe's moment."
The European Union is pushing for speed after national leaders have struggled to explain to residents why they're still waiting for shots already being rolled out in the U.S. and U.K. - a particular sore spot given that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was pioneered in Germany.
On Wednesday, the European drugs agency said the key advisory committee meeting, originally planned for as late as Dec. 29, would take place Monday. Should the vaccine win the agency's backing, the Commission is planning for a sign-off as soon as the same day, two people familiar with the process said.
9 a.m. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000, the highest weekly total since September, as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy's recovery from its springtime collapse.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications increased from 862,000 the previous week. It showed that nine months after the viral pandemic paralyzed the economy, many employers are still slashing jobs as the pandemic forces more business restrictions and leads many consumers to stay home.
Before the coronavirus erupted in March, weekly jobless claims had typically numbered only about 225,000. The far-higher current pace of claims reflects an employment market under stress and diminished job security for many.
8 a.m. A mother who gave birth while in a coma due to complications from COVID-19 is awake and has met her newborn son for the first time.
Gillian McIntosh was given an emergency C-section after arriving at a hospital in Abbotsford, B.C., with COVID-19 symptoms in November.
The 37-year-old was placed in an induced coma and on a ventilator due to complications from the virus.
McIntosh's family says in a statement that she was eased out of sedation late last week and has been taken off the ventilator.
She was able to meet her son, named Travis Len, for the first time over the weekend.
7:40 a.m. (will be updated) There won't be a TTC fare hike in 2021, Mayor John Tory told Breakfast Television Thursday morning in an interview.
The TTC fares will be frozen for 2021. This is a reflection of the hard work the TTC has done. In a year like this, that's hard for us to do. We hope people come back to TTC because it's safe," Tory said.
Tory says he believes the transit fare freeze will be good news for TTC riders.
The news will be announced at a press conference Thursday.
7:32 a.m. The British Columbia government is scheduled to update the province's financial situation Thursday amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Finance Ministry's economic and fiscal update comes after it forecast a budget deficit of almost $13 billion in September.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson said last week the update will include the government's plans to release a budget next year.
The legislature is debating a bill that could see the introduction of the budget delayed from February until late April.
7:17 a.m. The Toronto District School board says Nelson Mandela Park Public School is closed effective Dec. 17.
The school, located on Shuter Street, was shut down by public health and will reopen on Jan. 4, following the winter break. Toronto Public Health will continue a COVID-19 investigation at the school.
It is the 15th public-funded school in the city to be shut down in recent weeks.
The Toronto District School Board announced Tuesday night that Clairlea Public School, near Victoria Park Avenue and St. Clair Avenue East, joined 10 other TDSB schools to be closed. There are also three Catholic elementary schools in Toronto shut down.
The other 10 TDSB schools closed are: City Adult Learning Centre, David Lewis Public School, Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy, Grenoble P.S., Humber Summit Middle School, Humewood Community School, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute, Oakridge Junior P.S., R.H. McGregor E.S. and Thorncliffe Park P.S.
The three Catholic elementary schools closed are: All Saints, St. Aidan and St. Conrad.
6 a.m.: Health Canada is expected to make a regulatory decision imminently on a second COVID-19 vaccine.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said shipments of the American-developed Moderna vaccine candidate are waiting to be transported into this country if and when the green light is given.
The first fully tested vaccine, from Pfizer-BioNTech, rolled out to long-term-care residents and health-care workers this week. Trudeau has said that initial supply could be bolstered by as many as 168,000 Moderna doses before the end of the year.
Experts have said from the beginning that the hundreds of teams toiling away on COVID-19 vaccines were likely to produce not just one winner, but a portfolio of doses.
So, what's the difference between the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine? How are they given?
Read Alex Boyd's latest vaccine explainer here.
6 a.m.: The Gaza Strip has recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus cases in one day for the first time since an outbreak began there, threatening to further overwhelm the territory's decrepit health system.
Out of 2,474 tests, 1,015 were positive, the Health Ministry said Thursday. Twelve people have also died in the past 24 hours, the ministry added, raising the death toll to 232.
Gaza has recorded more than 31,000 infections since the virus began to spread in the densely populated Palestinian territory in August.
5 a.m.: As the first COVID-19 vaccines are administered across the country, the youngest Canadians are facing a wait of at least several months before they can even start to get the shots.
The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is only approved for ages 16 and up, as there's not enough data from clinical trials on kids yet. But in the meantime, some experts argue those around them such as teachers and daycare workers should be prioritized ahead of the general population, to build a bubble of protection.
Alex Munter, president and CEO of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, said he understands that everything is moving at the speed of COVID" and agrees that vulnerable groups like long-term-care residents and staff, and health-care workers, should be at the front of the line.
But he said there's an absence of plan or strategy around kids and that's very worrisome."
Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada's chief medical adviser, told the Star the key will be to get enough people around children immunized, while we wait for more data on kids from the companies behind the leading vaccines. Especially ones with underlying medical issues.
It's not unusual for vaccines to be approved in one age group first, she said. The initial recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on who would get the shots first were aimed at the very highest-priority groups," so that they were ready for the initial doses. But more recommendations will come in the next phase.
I think absolutely teachers would need to be part of those discussions as well in terms of priority," she said.
Read the full story from May Warren here.
5 a.m.: French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday.
It said the president took a test as soon as the first symptoms appeared." The brief statement did not say what symptoms Macron experienced.
It said he would isolate himself for seven days. He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance," it added.
It was not immediately clear what contact tracing efforts were in progress. Macron attended a European Union summit at the end of last week, where he notably had a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
5 a.m.: The private company selected by the province to take over management of an Etobicoke long-term-care home where 27 seniors have died of COVID-19 also manages facilities cited for multiple violations of provincial rules designed to protect residents.
A Star analysis of provincial inspection reports finds that homes managed by UniversalCare Canada Inc. - designated by the province Monday to assume temporary management of Westside Long-Term Care Home in Toronto's west end - have racked up more than two dozen citations in the last two months for violating the Long-Term Care Homes Act and its regulations. Those violations include failing to protect residents from abuse and neglect, failing to use safe transferring and positioning devices, and failing to ensure all staff participated in an infection prevention and control program.
In an email to the Star, UniversalCare president and CEO Joseph Gulizia said his company was honoured" to be asked by the Ministry of Long-Term Care to assist in dealing with the serious need to ensure the health and safety of our most vulnerable residents."
UniversalCare's temporary management of Westside long-term-care home, which is owned by the private firm Revera Long Term Care Inc., will last 90 days, with the option to extend the arrangement if necessary, according to the province. The 242-bed facility in Etobicoke is in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak, with 55 residents and 94 staff members who have tested positive for the virus.
Read Kenyon Wallace's full story here.
4 a.m.: Tokyo reported 822 new cases of the coronavirus, a new high for the Japanese capital.
Infections have been on the steady climb nationwide for several weeks. Japan on Friday reported 2,988 new cases for a total of 187,103, including 2,739 deaths.
Experts on the Tokyo task force raised caution levels for the medical systems to the highest, suggesting that most Tokyo hospitals have little extra manpower or beds to continue their ordinary treatment for other patients.
- California has reported more than 53,000 new coronavirus cases and 293 deaths on Wednesday, setting new records as hospitals struggled to keep up with the surge. State health officials said a change in data processing added 15,337 previous cases to the count, but the new virus cases remained a daily record.
- Denmark is shutting down nationwide, with shopping malls and department stores ordered to close as of Wednesday and small shops - except for food stores and pharmacies - told to shut as of Dec. 25. The Scandinavian country had 119,779 confirmed cases - up nearly 4,000 in the past day - and 975 deaths - up 14.
- Health officials in Alaska have reported that a second health care worker had an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech. Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau says the two workers showed adverse reactions about 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine and were treated. One received the vaccine Tuesday and will remain in the hospital another night under observation while the other, vaccinated Wednesday, has fully recovered.
4 a.m.: The British Columbia government is scheduled to update the province's financial situation today amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Finance Ministry's economic and fiscal update comes after it forecast a budget deficit of almost $13 billion in September.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson said last week the update will include the government's plans to release a budget next year.
The legislature is debating a bill that could see the introduction of the budget delayed from February until late April.
The legislation also includes plans to fund pandemic recovery payments of $1,000 to eligible families and $500 to individuals, which will cost about $1.7 billion.
4 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. ET on Wednesday Dec. 17, 2020.
There are 481,630 confirmed cases in Canada.
_ Canada: 481,630 confirmed cases (75,885 active, 391,946 resolved, 13,799 deaths).The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers.
There were 6,416 new cases Wednesday from 64,919 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 9.9 per cent. The rate of active cases is 201.88 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 46,300 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 6,614.
There were 140 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 816 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 117. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.31 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 36.71 per 100,000 people.
There have been 12,756,869 tests completed.
_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 364 confirmed cases (23 active, 337 resolved, four deaths).
There were five new cases Wednesday from 582 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.86 per cent. The rate of active cases is 4.41 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 11 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is two.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 0.77 per 100,000 people.
There have been 68,326 tests completed.
_ Prince Edward Island: 89 confirmed cases (16 active, 73 resolved, zero deaths).
There were zero new cases Wednesday from 939 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. The rate of active cases is 10.19 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of five new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.
There have been 74,161 tests completed.
_ Nova Scotia: 1,430 confirmed cases (55 active, 1,310 resolved, 65 deaths).
There were four new cases Wednesday from 1,583 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.25 per cent. The rate of active cases is 5.66 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 41 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is six.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 6.69 per 100,000 people.
There have been 164,699 tests completed.
_ New Brunswick: 567 confirmed cases (52 active, 507 resolved, eight deaths).
There were eight new cases Wednesday from 567 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 1.4 per cent. The rate of active cases is 6.69 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 25 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is four.
There were zero new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there has been one new reported death. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is zero. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.02 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 1.03 per 100,000 people.
There have been 110,544 tests completed.
_ Quebec: 169,173 confirmed cases (17,392 active, 144,168 resolved, 7,613 deaths).
There were 1,897 new cases Wednesday from 9,999 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 19 per cent. The rate of active cases is 204.97 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 12,705 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,815.
There were 42 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 264 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 38. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.44 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 89.72 per 100,000 people.
There have been 2,359,553 tests completed.
_ Ontario: 146,535 confirmed cases (17,084 active, 125,416 resolved, 4,035 deaths).
There were 2,139 new cases Wednesday from 47,580 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 4.5 per cent. The rate of active cases is 117.28 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 13,735 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,962.
There were 43 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 199 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 28. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.2 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 27.7 per 100,000 people.
There have been 6,876,041 tests completed.
_ Manitoba: 21,826 confirmed cases (5,797 active, 15,506 resolved, 523 deaths).
There were 291 new cases Wednesday from 2,478 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 12 per cent. The rate of active cases is 423.3 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 2,171 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 310.
There were 15 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 85 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 12. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.89 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 38.19 per 100,000 people.
There have been 384,964 tests completed.
_ Saskatchewan: 12,594 confirmed cases (4,213 active, 8,283 resolved, 98 deaths).
There were 162 new cases Wednesday from 1,109 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 15 per cent. The rate of active cases is 358.72 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,695 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 242.
There were zero new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 27 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is four. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.33 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 8.34 per 100,000 people.
There have been 286,679 tests completed.
_ Alberta: 84,597 confirmed cases (20,169 active, 63,668 resolved, 760 deaths).
There were 1,270 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 461.39 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 11,109 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,587.
There were 16 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 107 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 15. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.35 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 17.39 per 100,000 people.
There have been 1,547,298 tests completed.
_ British Columbia: 44,103 confirmed cases (11,035 active, 32,376 resolved, 692 deaths).
There were 640 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 217.6 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 4,766 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 681.
There were 24 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 133 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 19. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.37 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 13.65 per 100,000 people.
There have been 866,132 tests completed.
_ Yukon: 59 confirmed cases (one active, 57 resolved, one deaths).
There were zero new cases Wednesday from 17 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. The rate of active cases is 2.45 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of one new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.45 per 100,000 people.
There have been 5,790 tests completed.
_ Northwest Territories: 22 confirmed cases (seven active, 15 resolved, zero deaths).
There were zero new cases Wednesday from 44 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. The rate of active cases is 15.62 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of seven new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.
There have been 7,552 tests completed.
_ Nunavut: 258 confirmed cases (41 active, 217 resolved, zero deaths).
There were zero new cases Wednesday from 21 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. The rate of active cases is 105.72 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 29 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is four.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.
There have been 5,054 tests completed.