The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Monday, May 17, 2021

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern):

6:35 p.m.

The Yukon government says more than 75 per cent of all eligible adults have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

That amounts to 26,242 adults who have received their first dose, while the territory says 23,236 have received their second dose.

It says in a release that vaccine uptake is increasing in every age group, with rates ranging from 65 per cent for first doses among people aged 18 to 29, to 90 per cent in people 70 and up.

It adds that vaccination clinics will soon begin for youth aged 12 to 17, with first doses set to be administered before the end of the school year.

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6:30 p.m.

British Columbia is reporting an average of 453 daily cases over the past three days for a total of 1,360 new cases.

The numbers are consistent with a downward trend, although health officials say the numbers are still too high to loosen restrictions before the May long weekend.

Fourteen more people died over the same period, bringing the death toll to 1,648.

There are 5,021 active cases in B.C. and a total of 139,664 infections have been recorded since the pandemic began.

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6 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 721 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say there are 21,288 active cases in the province.

There are 678 people in hospital and 181 of those patients are in intensive care.

Another three Albertans have died from COVID-19, for a total of 2,148 deaths linked to the virus.

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4 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the infected person is in their 40s and recently travelled outside Atlantic Canada.

Prince Edward Island has nine active reported cases of COVID-19.

It has reported a total of 192 infections and no deaths linked to the virus.

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3:45 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 178 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Two more people have died, one in their 50s and one in their 80s.

The province is now dealing with 1,965 active cases.

There are 142 people in the hospital, 27 of whom are in intensive care.

As of Sunday, 9,343 cases of COVID-19 variants of concern had been identified in Saskatchewan.

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2:05 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 today, including one travel-related case involving a New Brunswicker who is isolating outside the province.

Health officials say the new cases involve three people from the Saint John region, five from the Fredericton area, two in the Edmundston region and one from the Bathurst area.

New Brunswick has 118 active reported cases of COVID-19.

There are 10 New Brunswickers hospitalized with COVID-19: six are in the province and four are outside.

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1:50 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting 10 new cases of COVID-19, and 93 active reported infections across the province.

Officials say all 10 cases have been traced to travel within Canada, or to previously identified infections.

Public health is now asking anyone aged 12 and over to book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.

As of today, 47 per cent of people in the province aged 12 and over have received at least one dose.

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1:35 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 91 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials have identified 66 cases in the Halifax area, 17 in the province’s eastern zone, five in northern zone and three in the western region.

The province has 1,435 known active cases of COVID-19, with 95 people in hospital, including 21 in intensive care.

Bookings have also opened today for vaccine appointments for people 30 to 34 years of age, as the province reports having administered 430,856 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Sunday, with 39,235 people having received their second dose.

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1:30 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 430 new cases of COVID-19 and one death. 

The percentage of people testing positive, averaged over five days, remains high at 12.7 per cent provincially and 14.3 per cent in Winnipeg

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1:05 p.m.

Nunavut is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 today.

There are 65 active cases in the territory: 64 in Iqaluit and one in Kinngait.

Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says Nunavut has placed an order for doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with the federal government to vaccinate people ages 12 to 17 in the territory.

The Moderna vaccine is currently the only one available in Nunavut.

The first case was declared in Iqaluit on April 14.

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11 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 551 new cases of COVID-19 today and eight more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including two in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by seven, to 501, and 116 people were in intensive care, a drop of three.

The province says 71,701 doses of vaccine were administered within the past 24 hours, for a total of 4,396,507; about 49 per cent of Quebecers have received at least one dose of vaccine.

Quebec has reported a total of 363,847 COVID-19 cases and 11,042 deaths linked to the virus.

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10:30 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 2,170 new cases of COVID-19 today and four more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 566 new cases in Toronto, 556 in Peel Region, and 215 in York Region.

Today’s data is based on nearly 24,500 completed COVID-19 tests.

Ontario says 1,320 people are hospitalized with the disease but notes that more than 10 per cent of hospitals did not submit data over the weekend.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2021.

The Canadian Press