The latest novel coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Thursday (this file is no longer updating. Click here to read the latest coverage). Web links to longer stories if available.

6.30 p.m. Alberta will take its first steps toward reopening the economy beginning May 4.

On Monday, some non-urgent surgeries will go ahead and some health-care workers, such as dentists, physiotherapists, social workers and occupational therapists, will be allowed to resume services under strict public health guidelines.

Premier Jason Kenney and Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, laid out the plans.

Earlier today, Alberta reported 190 more cases of COVID-19, as the government launched a reopening plan for some businesses and services starting next week.

The total number of cases in the province is at 5,355.

So far, 2,161 people have recovered.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical health officer, says three additional people have died of the illness, bringing the province’s death toll to 89.

6.00 p.m. Toronto Council has voted unanimously to extend Mayor John Tory’s emergency powers, as well as the physical distancing rules in city parks and public squares.

Twenty-five members of council met for the first time since March 6 from separate home and city hall offices to deal with urgent business.

Tory declared an emergency in Toronto on March 23, following a provincial declaration, and first took action on April 2 using his powers under city rules (to enact) the social distancing by-laws. Those rules required him to report to council within 30 days of those actions the justification for using that authority, which was on Thursday’s agenda.

The same city rules only give the mayor emergency powers for 30 days unless council decides to extend them.

More details here from the Star’s Jennifer Pagilaro.

5 p.m. In Ontario, there are 17,469 cases of COVID-19, up 402 or 2.4 per cent up, which is the lowest yet. There are 1,176 dead, up 44.

2:27 p.m.: Manitoba is reporting two new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial total to 275. With 220 people recovered, the number of active cases in the province has dropped to 49.

Health officials say almost all personal care homes are ready for tomorrow, when new rules take effect limiting health-care workers to working at no more than one care home.

The province says six of its 127 care homes are still working to finalize their arrangements.

1:52 p.m.: For the 12th straight day, New Brunswick is reporting no new cases of COVID-19. The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says of the total 118 cases so far, there are only four active cases and no one is in hospital.

Russell cautions there will be new cases in New Brunswick, but health officials are now more prepared for the next wave. She says provincial officials will be meeting with the business community to discuss a recovery plan.

1:30 p.m.: Parliament’s budget watchdog says that it’s likely the federal deficit for the year will hit $252.1 billion as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and could go even higher if emergency measures remain in place longer than planned.

The figure is an estimate based on the almost $146 billion in spending measures the government has announced to help cushion the economic blow from the pandemic, estimated declines in the country’s gross domestic product, and the price of oil remaining well below previous expectations.

1:30 p.m.: Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the province should expect the COVID-19 deaths in the province’s care homes to continue over the next days and weeks as seriously-ill people succumb to the illness.

There were 98 new deaths since yesterday, for a total of 1,859, and Legault said 92 occurred in care homes. There were also 944 new cases for a new total of 27,538.

Legault said there are concerning situations at three hospitals in the Montreal area, as well as the north-end neighbourhood of Montreal-Nord.

1:25 p.m.: Many Ontario businesses will be forced to install plexiglass barriers, revamp HVAC systems, provide hand sanitizer, and maintain physical distancing when they finally are allowed to reopen.

The Ministry of Labour is adding 58 inspectors to deal with COVID-19 workplace safety issues, and has now created sector-specific safety guidelines.

1:25 p.m.: Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos says nearly 500 members of the Canadian military have now been deployed to 13 long-term care homes in Quebec. That includes medical technicians, nurses and support staff to aide the facilities.

He said there will be more deployed soon to at least seven additional care homes in the province and the tasks that they are doing will depend on the needs of each individual facility.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier said military members are also on site at five long-term care homes in Ontario.

1:18 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford says it’s “ridiculous” that the City of Ottawa is stopping families from visiting loved ones at their windows in nursing homes over fears of speading COVID-19. “Go visit your loved ones. Go to the window.”

The four municipal homes’ administrators told families to stop coming to their grounds in letters sent out this week, saying there had been incidents of outdoor visitors not observing distancing rules.

1:15 p.m.: Ford says garden centres will be allowed to open soon. “Good news is coming very, very shortly,” he says. “It’s good for mental health. People get outside. Stay tuned.”

1:15 p.m.: Newfoundland and Labrador announced no new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday as officials unveiled the province’s reopening plan, with some measures set to lift on May 11.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, chief medical officer of health, says the province has reached a turning point in its fight against the virus, with 30 active cases in the province.

If indicators remain the same, the province will move to the next “alert level” in May, allowing some low-risk activities like golf or hunting to resume, and some businesses like law firms and garden centres to open.

After at least 28 days at level four, more businesses and activities will be permitted to resume at each alert level, while some measures related to care facilities and self-isolation for returning travellers will remain in place for the long term.

12:55 p.m.: Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to address reporters at his daily 1 p.m. meeting. A livestream of his news conference will be available at thestar.com

12:50 p.m.: Prince Edward Island is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 today, with the provincial total remaining at 27, and 24 of the cases considered recovered.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison says there were only six positive cases during the month of April.

She says despite the low numbers, it is still not the time for non-essential travel to the province.

Morrison says the province will allow temporary foreign workers on P.E.I and measures are in place to ensure they are healthy.

12:35 p.m.: Canada’s chief public health officer says “things have been a little flat” this week on the COVID-19 epidemic curve, and acknowledges it is making everyone excited about when we are going to be able to get out of our houses.

Dr. Theresa Tam cautions that there are still significant challenges in some settings, including long-term care homes.

11:44 a.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 947 confirmed cases. The province has recorded 28 deaths related to COVID-19.

Ten people are currently in hospital, and three of those are in intensive care. The province’s top public health official, Dr. Robert Strang, is urging Nova Scotians to “stay the course.”

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, the health units were reporting a total of 17,122 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, now claiming 1,139 lives.

11:30 a.m. (updated): Ontario’s regional health units have reported another 80 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours as the day-over-day trend in new cases of the disease continues to slow down, according to the Star’s latest count.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, the health units were reporting a total of 17,122 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, now claiming 1,139 lives.

Most of those deaths were reported in Toronto, which announced its largest single-day increase in fatal cases — 42 — Wednesday afternoon.

The number of reported deaths in Ontario spiked to a new daily high Wednesday evening, but it is not clear what role reporting delays may have played in the jump.

Data on outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes has for several days shown that the death toll reported into the province’s central reporting system, the Integrated Public Health Information System, iPHIS, is not yet including hundreds of deaths that have already happened.

For example, as of Thursday morning, data from iPHIS counted 530 deaths in an Ontario long-term care home. Meanwhile, more current numbers from the Ministry of Long-Term Care listed 835 dead in these facilities.

The health units typically report a death only after first entering detailed case information into iPHIS, meaning several days can pass between when a death is reported to the Ministry of Long-Term Care and when it is added to the health units’ official outbreak tallies.

Earlier this week, Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, said the work required to confirm COVID-19 in each case may cause reporting delays.

Meanwhile, with 467 new cases reported since the same time Tuesday, the province saw another day of relatively few new cases — an increase of just 2.8 per cent, up only slightly from the lowest single-day jump by percentage in the Star’s count, recorded Tuesday.

Earlier Thursday, the province also reported 999 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, a number that has grown day-by-day this week. The province also says more than 10,000 patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus have now recovered from the disease — more than half the total infected.

Because many health units and publish case data before reporting to the province through a central reporting system, the Star’s count is more current than the data the province puts out each morning.

The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of total deaths — 996 — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, “data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date.”

The Star’s count, includes some patients reported as “probable” COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.

11:25 a.m.: Ontario is reporting that 52 people are now dead at the Orchard Villa long-term-care home in Pickering, the province’s worst outbreak. The 233-bed facility is one of the five long-term-care homes where Canadian Armed Forces personnel have been sent to help remaining staff.

11:15 a.m.: Canada’s airports are predicting around $2 billion in lost revenues this year. Travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a precipitous decline in demand for plane tickets and, by extension, airport services.

The bottom line, according to the industry, is anticipated losses of between $1.8 billion and $2.2 billion this year. Airports have resorted to terminal closures and layoffs, and at least six regional airports have lost scheduled passenger service altogether.

10:50 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to address reporters at his daily 11 a.m. briefing. A livestream of his news conference will be available at thestar.com

10:24 a.m.: Nunavut says it has its first case of COVID-19.

In a news release, the territory’s chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, says the case was detected in the community of Pond Inlet.

The person is said to be in isolation and is doing well. Patterson says the territory’s rapid response team is on the way to the community to help manage the situation.

Nunavut is the last Canadian jurisdiction to report a COVID-19 case.

Pond Inlet is located on the northern part of Baffin Island and has a population of about 1,600.

10:15 a.m. (updated with meeting started): For the first time in the history of Toronto city hall, council is meeting virtually on Thursday starting at 10 a.m. During the pandemic, council is meeting for the first time since March 6 to discuss urgent business, largely related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Follow along here with the Star’s Jennifer Pagilaro.

10 a.m.: Toronto has shut the St. Lawrence antique market over COVID-19. Now the city’s own rental policy may put the market out of business. Read the story from the Star’s Francine Kopun.

9 a.m.: Mandatory face masks in some public settings could be part of Toronto’s COVID-19 recovery plan, Mayor John Tory said Thursday.

Tory made the comments on CP24 in response to a viewer question about some stores making face coverings mandatory to help prevent COVID-19 infections.

The mayor said mandatory face coverings in certain settings are being discussed by city and public health officials but no decision has been made.

Changing advice on how much cloth and other non-medical masks worn by people in everyday life limits COVID-19 spread has been a controversial facet of the pandemic.

Full story from the Star’s David Rider.

8:45 a.m.: Can your pets get COVID-19? With the news of two pet cats catching the coronavirus from their owners in New York City last week, public health authorities have revised their advice on what people who are sick with COVID-19 should do with their pets.

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Listen to the Star’s This Matters podcast as reporter Raju Mudhar speaks with Scott Weese, an expert on infectious diseases in animals.

8:20 a.m.: The reported U.S. death toll on Wednesday crept past 60,000, a figure that President Donald Trump in recent weeks had suggested might be the total death count. He had cited the estimate as a sign of relative success after the White House previously warned the U.S. could suffer 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

Trump also has repeatedly used the outer band of any estimate — the potential that 2.2 million Americans could have died had there been no interventions — to try to make his case most powerfully.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 is certain to keep growing from here.

Read the full Associated Press story.

8:15 a.m.: Airbnb is extending its support program for front-line health workers to the Toronto region, partnering with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to provide free housing to its members during the COVID-19 crisis.

Airbnb’s San Francisco-based CEO Brian Chesky has committed $500,000 (U.S.) of his own money to pay for rentals in Toronto homes.

Read the story from the Star’s Tess Kalinowski.

7:02 a.m. Most McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. and China are now open for drive-thru and delivery, but global lockdown orders still took a bite out of the company’s first quarter sales.

McDonald’s said Thursday its sales fell six per cent to $4.71 billion in the January-March period. Declines have persisted in April.

Approximately 75 per cent of the fast food giant’s 39,000 stores globally are open. In China, where 25 per cent of stores were closed in February, nearly all have reopened; 99 per cent of U.S. stores are open as well, offering limited menus and takeout food. But stores remain closed in some key markets like France, the United Kingdom and Italy.

McDonald’s started the year strong. Through February, its same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — were up 7.2 per cent worldwide and 8.1 per cent in the U.S. But sales tumbled in March as global lockdowns took hold. McDonald’s ended the quarter with same-store sales down 3.4 per cent.

7:02 a.m. The European economy suffered a record drop amid the pandemic, shrinking by a record 3.8 per cent in the first quarter as business activity from hotels and restaurants to construction and manufacturing was frozen by shutdowns aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

The drop in the 19-country eurozone was the biggest since statistics began in 1995 and sharper than the plunge in the midst of the global financial crisis in the first quarter of 2009 after the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The drop compares to a 4.8 per cent contraction in the U.S. during the first quarter as the shock from the outbreak hits economies around the world.

Unemployment rose only slightly, however, even amid the massive shutdowns that idled everything from florists to factories. The jobless figure rose to 7.4 per cent in March from 7.3 per cent in February, statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday. Millions of workers are being supported by temporary short-hours programs under which governments pay most of their salaries in return for companies agreeing not to lay people off.

6:45 a.m.: The British government has acknowledged that it may miss its self-imposed goal of conducting 100,000 tests for coronavirus a day by the end of Thursday. But officials insist the U.K. is rapidly expanding the country’s testing capacity as it prepares to gradually ease a nationwide lockdown.

The government has been criticized for failing to catch most cases of COVID-19 and now says wide-scale testing will be key to controlling the virus and lifting restrictions on business and daily life that were imposed more than a month ago.

5:30 a.m.: Gov. Gavin Newsom will order all California beaches and state parks closed Friday after tens of thousands of people flocked to the seashore last weekend during a heat wave despite his stay-at-home order, according to a memo sent Wednesday evening to police chiefs around the state.

Newsom this week targeted beachgoers in Orange and Ventura counties, calling them an example of “what not to do” if the state wants to continue its progress fighting the coronavirus. While many beaches and trails throughout the state have been closed for weeks, others have remained open with warnings for visitors to practice social distancing and more have reopened.

In Newport Beach, some 80,000 visitors hit the beach over the weekend, although lifeguards said most people exercised social distancing.

5:23 a.m.: China reported no new deaths from coronavirus and four new cases, all brought from outside the country. China has been testing and quarantining arrivals from abroad, who have accounted for many of its recent cases.

The National Health Commission said 619 people remain hospitalized with COVID-19. China has reported 4,633 deaths from the virus among 82,862 cases.

5:15 a.m.: South Korea reported four more cases of coronavirus infection in its first daily increase below five in about two months. The Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the country’s totals were now 10,765 cases with 247 deaths.

5 a.m.: The Australian Capital Territory has become the first of the country’s eight states and mainland territories to declare itself free of all known cases of the coronavirus.

Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman said the territory surrounding the capital city Canberra was free of any recorded infection on Thursday for the first time in seven weeks after the last patient recovered.

There have been 106 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canberra and three patients have died. ACT has a population of only 420,000, the second-smallest of Australia’s states and territories, and its infection rate per head of population ranks in the middle of the field.

4 a.m.: Canadians will get an update today on two of the costliest emergency aid programs the federal government has initiated to help them weather the COVID-19 crisis.

The parliamentary budget officer is scheduled to post a costing note on the 75 per cent wage subsidy — a program the government expects to cost $73 billion and which it has called the largest economic policy in Canada since the Second World War.

Yves Giroux is also expected to post a costing note on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which is providing $2,000 a month for four months to Canadians forced out of work due to the pandemic.

The government has estimated the cost of that program at $35 billion, but has expanded the eligibility criteria several times to add those initially left out, including workers earning up to $1,000 per month, seasonal workers and those who have exhausted their regular employment insurance benefits.

4 a.m.: There are 51,596 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada:

Quebec: 26,594 confirmed (including 1,761 deaths, 6,048 resolved)

Ontario: 15,728 confirmed (including 996 deaths, 9,612 resolved)

Alberta: 5,165 confirmed (including 87 deaths, 1,953 resolved)

British Columbia: 2,087 confirmed (including 109 deaths, 1,305 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 935 confirmed (including 28 deaths, 529 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 383 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 291 resolved)

Manitoba: 262 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 209 resolved), 10 presumptive

Newfoundland and Labrador: 258 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 225 resolved)

New Brunswick: 118 confirmed (including 114 resolved)

Prince Edward Island: 27 confirmed (including 24 resolved)

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

Yukon: 11 confirmed (including 8 resolved)

Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 51,596 (10 presumptive, 51,586 confirmed including 2,996 deaths, 20,336 resolved)

Wednesday 10 p.m.: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he’s confident in his government’s plan to relax some restrictions around COVID-19 starting next month, despite two outbreaks of the illness and another death.

“Despite these two isolated outbreaks, we’re confident that, by and large, Saskatchewan is doing very well,” Moe told a press conference.

“This is very different than if we had an increasing of 10 to 17 (cases) and then maybe continue going across the province and we were unaware of exactly where those sources were.”

The province also reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing its total number of cases to 383; 291 people having recovered.

Wednesday 9:35 p.m.: Mississauga city council has voted to allow mosques in the city to broadcast calls to prayer during Ramadan.

Council unanimously passed a motion Wednesday to temporarily relax city noise bylaws for the calls, which alert Muslims it’s time for prayer, up to the end of Ramadan on May 24.

Because the calls to prayer are broadcast on loudspeakers, they would normally violate city noise bylaw.

During the exemption, Mississauga mosques and “other non-residential buildings regularly used for worship” can send out only one call to prayer in the evening, according to the motion moved by Coun. Pat Saito.

The motion also said that calls can’t be longer than five minutes or encourage people to physically gather, which would be a violation of COVID-19 emergency closures.

Click here to read more of Wednesday’s coverage.