The latest:
Nova Scotia is tightening its border measures for at least four weeks beginning Thursday, allowing only a select group of non-essential travellers into the province.
Permanent residents, as well as people living in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, will be allowed to enter, officials said, noting the restrictions were needed to avoid a strong third wave.
Health officials reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the number of active cases in the province to 68.
The increase in COVID-19 activity is a “warning sign,” said Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health. He said the new border measures are “critical” and will help.
The updated travel guidelines came a day after the province reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 — the highest daily case number in the province in months.
Prince Edward Island recently announced its own temporary travel restrictions in an effort to control the number of COVID-19 cases in the province. Seasonal residents will not be allowed to enter the province until at least May 17.
While New Brunswick reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time in about a month, the province did report one confirmed case of a blood clot potentially related to the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. The person, between the ages of 30 and 39, was treated and has recovered.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the number of active cases in the province to 27.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 1:05 p.m. ET.
What’s happening across Canada
| Expanding access to AstraZeneca vaccine will make ‘significant difference,’ expert says:
Easing eligibility requirements for the AstraZeneca vaccine will open up access to millions of Canadians and make a big difference in the ‘wartime’ fight against COVID-19, says infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch. 7:31
As of 1:55 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Canada had reported 1,136,604 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 88,027 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 23,707.
Hard-hit Ontario was set to begin offering the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to people aged 40 and older starting Tuesday. The shots will be made available at pharmacies and primary care offices.
The province, which is under tight restrictions, reported 3,469 new cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional deaths on Tuesday. Hospitalizations in the province stood at 2,360, with 773 people reported to be in intensive care units due to COVID-related illness.
| Toronto field hospital ‘tool in the toolbox’ for surging patient load, says emergency planner:
An 84-bed field hospital at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is close to being ready to accept recovering COVID-19 patients, says Robert Burgess, senior director of emergency preparedness at the hospital. 8:02
Health officials in Quebec reported 1,136 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and 17 additional deaths. According to the province, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province stood at 694, with 177 people in intensive care. Following similar moves by other provinces, Quebec will make the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine available to people aged 45 years and older beginning Wednesday.
Across the North, Nunavut reported five new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, including two cases in Kinngait that were first reported late on Monday. Premier Joe Savikataaq said the additional cases brought the number of active cases in the territory to 33.
“All individuals are isolating and doing well,” Savikataaq said.
In Yukon, meanwhile, the chief medical officer of health on Monday confirmed one new COVID-19 case in the territory.
In the Prairie provinces on Tuesday, Manitoba reported 211 new cases and one additional death. In what’s being called the first arrangement of its kind, the governments of North Dakota and Manitoba announced the state will offer free vaccines to any of the province’s truck drivers who transport goods across the border.
“Today is a small victory over some of the challenges that we face in dealing with the largest health and economic pandemic in our time, and today is an important victory also for health-care co-operation,” Premier Brian Pallister said.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, reported 243 new cases of COVID-19.
In Alberta, health officials reported 1,391 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional deaths due to the virus. There were 460 people in hospital due to COVID-19, and 104 are in intensive care.
British Columbia will impose travel restrictions to prevent movement outside of health regions as police set up roadside checks similar to those seen during the Christmas season, Premier John Horgan said Monday as he pleaded with residents to “do the right thing.” The province on Monday reported 2,960 new COVID-19 cases and eight additional deaths over three days.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 12:55 p.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
As of early Tuesday morning, there have been more than 142.1 million new cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than three million.
In Europe, experts at the agency that regulates drugs for the European Union said Tuesday that a warning about unusual blood clots should be added to labels for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. The European Medicines Agency said these blood disorders should be considered “very rare side-effects of the vaccine.”
In the Asia-Pacific region, India reported 1,761 deaths from COVID-19 overnight, its highest daily toll, with large parts of the country now under lockdown as a second wave has left people fighting for hospital beds, oxygen and medicines. The world’s second-most populous country is grappling with its biggest public health emergency after it lowered its guard when infections fell to a multi-month low in February, health experts and officials say.
Diagnostics firms are nearing a breaking point in cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai as India battles its biggest COVID-19 surge, which may worsen the crisis as many sick people can’t get tested fast enough to isolate.
Japan’s western metropolis of Osaka has decided to ask the government to declare a state of emergency in the region after ongoing alert measures failed to control the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant.
In the Americas, the U.S. State Department has delivered COVID-19 vaccines to all of its eligible workforce deployed abroad as of Sunday and is expecting its entire workforce to have been fully vaccinated by mid-May, State Department officials said
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador got a shot of coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday. Lopez Obrador received a dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine from a military nurse live at his daily morning news conference.
In the Middle East, Israel signed a deal to buy millions of doses of vaccines from Pfizer through 2022.
In Africa, Zimbabwe has begun releasing about 3,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty aimed at easing congestion to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails.
-From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 1:05 p.m. ET
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