Read The Star’s live coverage of the novel coronavirus pandemic here. This story is no longer updating.

11:45 p.m.: Health officials in Peel Region say that they accidentally mailed letters to 16 residents saying that their COVID-19 test results were negative when they were in fact positive.

Officials say that several positive test slips were mixed in with a batch of negative results and the error was not noticed until the letters were mailed out.

“I know the relief those residents felt for a few moments has sadly been transformed into feelings of fear and uncertainty. Our team is working quickly to notify these residents and make sure they have what they need to manage this difficult situation,” said Peel interim medical officer of health Lawrence C. Loh in a news release.

8 p.m.: Two cruise ships with Canadian passengers aboard have docked in Florida after weeks at sea, The Canadian Press reports.

Their arrival also comes after days of negotiations with initially resistant local officials.

The MS Zaandam and a sister ship, the MS Rotterdam, were both given permission to unload passengers at Port Everglades.

Officials had feared the ships would divert needed resources from a region that has seen a spike in virus cases.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the Canadians would stay in isolation upon their return to Canada.

6.15 p.m. There are 11,283 confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 in Canada, according to The Canadian Press. Fifteen are presumptive, 11,268 are confirmed, including 138 deaths, and 1,968 resolved cases.

Quebec 5,518 confirmed cases, including 36 deaths, 224 of which were resolved

Ontario: 2,793 confirmed, including 53 deaths and 831 resolved

British Columbia: 1,121 confirmed, including 31 deaths and 641 resolved

Alberta: 968 confirmed, including 13 deaths and 174 resolved

Saskatchewan: 206 confirmed, including three deaths and 36 resolved

Nova Scotia: 193 confirmed, including 16 resolved

Newfoundland and Labrador: 183 confirmed, including one death and 10 resolved

Manitoba: 152 confirmed, including one death and 11 resolved, 15 presumptive

New Brunswick: 91 confirmed, including 22 resolved

Prince Edward Island: 22 confirmed, including three resolved

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Yukon: Six confirmed

Northwest Territories: two confirmed

Nunavut reports no confirmed cases.

5 p.m. Ontario’s COVID-19 epidemic has grown to 3,210 cases and 92 deaths, according to the Star’s latest count, based on public tallies and press releases issued by Ontario’s regional public health units.

Several regions announced deaths Thursday afternoon, including three more in Durham Region, which has now seen nine total deaths including four among residents of long-term care or retirement homes. Thursday has also seen the first COVID-19 deaths in Brant County, a woman in her 60s with pre-existing health issues, and in Guelph, a patient in their 80s.

At an afternoon news conference, Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, cautioned that she was aware of more deaths in Toronto, although they had not been announced yet. The city will be releasing more information soon, she said. For the time being, the toll remained at 11 dead.

The province says its most recent tally of 2,793 COVID-19 cases is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its count of deaths — this was 53 as of its Thursday morning update — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

4.01 p.m. Eileen de Villa, the medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, provided an update on the number of COVID-19 cases in the city: 897 confirmed and probable cases, 86 people in hospital, 39 of them in intensive care. Just over a quarter of Toronto cases are the result of community spread. Death toll now stands at “about 11,” but public health are aware of other deaths and are confirming details.

Mayor John Tory, using his emergency powers, has signed a by-law to make being within two metres of someone in a park or public square who is not a member of your household punishable with a fine up to $5,000. The by-law will be in effect for at least the next 30 days. Tory said the by-law maxes out the powers Toronto has to effectively “lockdown” the city.

2:30 p.m.: More than 40 health-care workers at a Winnipeg hospital have been sent home to self-isolate after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

Health officials say it will have an impact on services at the Health Sciences Centre and some patients are being moved to a different area.

Manitoba officials also report nine residents at a nursing home in Gimli have developed symptoms of respiratory illness and are being tested for COVID-19 after a staff member there tested positive.

The province is reporting an additional 40 probable or confirmed cases, bringing the provincial total to 167.

2 p.m.: Health care workers in Canada’s federal prison system are on the verge of walking off the job in the next few days over a lack of personal protective medical gear, according to their union.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada says there is a “real, escalating danger” that prison nurses won’t show up for work, citing provisions of the Canada Labour Code that allow workers to refuse unsafe work.

Union president Debi Daviau says her members understand there is a shortage of much-needed equipment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But she says there is no need to have every medical staffer at work in every institution as the pandemic spreads.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has asked the federal prison service and parole board to look at early release for some offenders.

1:59 p.m.: New Brunswick is reporting 10 more cases of COVID-19, for a provincial total of 91. The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says there is one community where five members of a church have tested positive.

1:35 p.m.: Canada and Ontario need a homegrown PPE industry so Canadians are never short on masks, gloves, gowns and other front-line medical supplies such as ventilators in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Premier Doug Ford.

1:30 p.m.: Ford warns “the new reality is hard.” He says it is “hard to deal with and hard to comprehend.” Expressing concern about the toll on mental health, he says $12 million will be invested in online mental health care.

1:20 p.m.: Ford says Ontario residents deserve to see what he’s seen on various modelling scenarios in the COVID-19 outbreak. Top doctors will provide briefing on modelling numbers Friday on where Ontario was, is and could be, he says. “You deserve to know what I know,” Ford says.

1:15 p.m.: The B.C. government is increasing the monthly amount that people on income and disability assistance receive to help them with COVID-19.

Anyone on those programs who is not eligible for the federal government’s emergency support programs will get an automatic $300 monthly supplement for the three months, starting this month.

Social Development Minister Shane Simpson says the supplement will also go to low-income seniors.

As well, he says people who are getting assistance from the province will not see a reduction in their benefits if they also qualify for the new $2,000 Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

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1:15 p.m.: Quebec Premier Francois Legault is encouraging police to be less tolerant with people refusing to follow the COVID-19 rules of engagement.

Legault says he’s hearing of people who are flouting physical distancing rules or companies that remain open and is warning who aren’t following public health regulations will be hit with fines ranging between $1,000 and $6,000.

Quebec has seen another spike of the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, reporting 5,518 cases in the province today.

That number represents an increase of 907 cases in the province since Wednesday.

Authorities also reported three more deaths, bringing the provincial tally to 36.

1:15 p.m.: Melania Trump says she has spoken with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau to wish her good health as she recovers from COVID-19.

The U.S. first lady says on Twitter that she spoke with her Canadian counterpart earlier today and expressed gratitude for what she calls the special relationship between the two countries as they address pandemic-related challenges.

A readout of the call from the White House says Trump and Trudeau discussed the importance of maintaining the economic links between Canada and the U.S., and noted the $1.7 billion US worth of daily trade that crosses their shared border.

The two also discussed the repatriation efforts that are ongoing to get Americans and Canadians home from cruise ships and other places around the world.

1 p.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting 20 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 193 confirmed cases. Health officials say five people are currently in hospital, while 16 people have now recovered and their cases of COVID-19 are considered resolved.

Most cases in Nova Scotia are connected to travel or a known case, with one confirmed case of community transmission to date.

1 p.m.: Prince Edward Island has one new case of COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the provincial total to 22. Chief medical health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says the latest case is a man in his 50s and is related to international travel. Three cases on the Island are considered as recovered.

12:30 p.m.: There are eight more positive cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, bringing the total to 183 in the province.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says 143 cases have been linked to a funeral home in St. John’s where someone with the illness attended a service earlier this month.

The eight new cases are in the Eastern Health region. Fitzgerald says 11 people have been hospitalized and four are in intensive care.

12:33 p.m.: TTC workers union says it has advised its bus drivers to limit the number of passengers on vehicles to 10 on regular buses, and 15 on the larger “bendy” buses.

12:20 p.m.: In Dr. Theresa Tam’s daily update, Canada’s chief public health officer says there are 10,466 COVID-19 cases across the country with 111 deaths (50 connected to long-term care homes). She says 260,000 tests have been completed with 3.5 per cent confirmed positive.

12:20 p.m.: Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says 15 people living in Indigenous communities have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Miller says the virus is a unique challenge in communities that are remote and he says the government is trying to get equipment there to help.

But he says COVID-19 is just one of the challenges Indigenous communities are facing this spring, including the risk of flooding.

11:30 a.m.: More than 11 million face masks have arrived in Canada in recent days, including a shipment of one million masks that arrived at a Hamilton warehouse overnight, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

He said workers are trying to quickly assess that they meet the needed standards, and that 10 million masks are already being distributed to provinces and territories.

He also said the government has ordered hundreds of thousands of face shields from Bauer, the company that normally makes hockey equipment.

11:25 a.m.: Trudeau says he will host a first ministers meeting tonight to discuss Canada’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The premiers were to meet in person on March 13 but that meeting was cancelled when Trudeau was forced into isolation because his wife tested positive for COVID-19.

Trudeau says the meeting, which will be held remotely, will include discussions about the continued need to share data and modelling between jurisdictions.

11:20 a.m.: Trudeau says “we’ll have more information soon” on the various modelling scenarios on the number of potential COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada. Governments at all levels have been reluctant to share such projections.

10:45 a.m.: According to the Star’s tally from the province’s local health units as of 10:30 a.m., there are 2,965 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including 85 deaths.

Since Wednesday at 10 p.m., that’s an additional 115 cases and two more deaths.

Thursday morning saw the fourth reported death in Haldimand-Norfolk, which has had multiple patients die following an outbreak at a Hagersville, Ont., nursing home, and the second reported death in Waterloo Region.

The Star’s count of COVID-19 cases and deaths is based on the public tallies and press releases issued by Ontario’s 34 regional public health units.

The province says its tally is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its count of deaths — 53 as of its Thursday morning update — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

In the government’s latest report, there are 2,793 cases in Ontario, an increase of 401 (or 16.8 per cent) from Wednesday’s report.

The government reports that 405 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 167 in intensive care with 112 of those patients on ventilators.

Ontario’s backlog of pending test results continues to drop as more testing capacity is added — from 3,135 Wednesday to 2,052 today.

The province is also reporting that 831 cases have been resolved with 62,733 patients tested overall.

10:40 a.m.: Ontario is reporting 401 new cases today, bringing the provincial total to 2,793. The number is lower than the figure reported by the Star earlier today because the province’s tally is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The Star’s number was as of the end of day Wednesday.

10:25 a.m.: Two more residents at Pinecrest Nursing Home died overnight, bringing the number of COVID-19 deaths at the facility to 16 residents. Dr. Michelle Snarr, medical director at the Bobcaygeon long-term care facility, confirmed the deaths Thursday morning.

The local health unit believes the outbreak at the 60-bed long-term care home is the largest in the province, with at least 24 staff members also infected.

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Jean Pollock, the wife of one of the residents there, also died over the weekend.

9:50 a.m.: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, said Thursday he feels safe despite reports he’s received online threats and has had uncomfortable personal encounters with admirers that prompted the Trump administration to assign him a security detail.

9:30 a.m.: Spain recorded its deadliest day on Thursday, with 950 fatalities lifting the total to more than 10,000. The country is dealing with the second-most severe outbreak in Europe after Italy and the government has struggled to check the spread of the disease.

The number of confirmed cases increased by 8,102, a bigger gain than Wednesday’s 7,719, to 110,238. The daily death toll in Italy — where more than 13,000 have died — dropped to 727 on Wednesday, the lowest in six days, and the number of new cases is below highs in mid-March.

9:17 a.m.: Some African countries will have more than 10,000 coronavirus cases by the end of April, health officials projected Thursday, as the continent least equipped to treat serious infections has an “enormous gap” in the number of ventilators and other critical items.

8:30 a.m.: According to the Star’s tally from province’s local health units, there are 2,850 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including 83 deaths.

Case counts have grown rapidly in Ontario in recent days. The Star’s tally of COVID-19 cases, compiled at 10 p.m. Wednesday, has more than tripled in a week; deaths have risen more than six-fold. A week earlier, Ontario had seen just 832 cases, with 13 deaths.

Wednesday saw the number of COVID-19 victims jump dramatically in Toronto — with eight new deaths reported in the city, many tied to nursing homes across the city. Provincewide, 22 more deaths were reported Wednesday.

The Star’s count of COVID-19 deaths is based on the public tallies and press releases issued by Ontario’s 34 regional public health units.

The province says its tally is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its count of deaths — just 37 as of the latest update — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

8:13 a.m.: Political opponents, scientists and even usually supportive newspapers lambasted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday over his government’s broken promises on wider testing for the COVID-19 virus.

Johnson’s Conservative government vowed weeks ago to rapidly increase the number of tests for the new coronavirus to 10,000 a day, then 25,000 a day by mid-April. But progress has been slow. The government says 10,412 tests were performed Tuesday, the first time the daily target was met.

7:54 a.m. Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan, died Wednesday after battling pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus, leaving six sons and a deep legacy. He was 85.

7:38 a.m. British Open organizers say postponement is an option for this year’s tournament at Royal St. George’s because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The 149th edition of the Open Championship is scheduled to take place July 16-19. The last time the Open wasn’t played was in 1945 because of World War II.

6:30 a.m.: The head of the World Health Organization’s office in Europe says figures show that more than 95 per cent of people who have died of coronavirus on the continent have been aged over 60.

But Dr. Hans Kluge said age is not the only risk factor for severe disease, adding: “The very notion that COVID-19 only affects older people is factually wrong.”

In an online news conference Thursday in Copenhagen, Kluge said “young people are not invincible” — echoing similar recent comments from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The U.N. health agency says 10 per cent to 15 per cent of people under 50 with the disease have moderate or severe infection.

“Severe cases of the disease have been seen in people in their teens or 20s with many requiring intensive care and some unfortunately passing away,” Kluge said.

He said recent statistics showed 30,098 people have been reported to have died in Europe, mostly in Italy, France and Spain.

“We know that over 95 per cent of these deaths occurred in those older than 60 years,” he said, with more than half aged over 80.

Kluge said more than four in five of those people had at least one other chronic underlying conditions, like cardiovascular disease, hypertension or diabetes.

“On a positive note, there are reports of people over the age of 100 who were admitted to hospital for COVID-19 and have now — since — made a complete recovery,” he said.

6:20 a.m. A survey by a Canadian not-for-profit says that over 300,000 restaurant jobs have been lost in Ontario as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Restaurants Canada estimates that 800,000 jobs have been lost in the sector nationwide.

The company, which represents restaurants nationwide, said nearly one in 10 restaurants in Canada have already closed and nearly one in five expect to close if conditions don’t get better in a month.

The company’s CEO and president said the numbers are the worst he’s seen since Restaurants Canada was founded 75 years ago.

6:20 a.m.: The new coronavirus is forcing more top Israeli officials into isolation after the country’s health minister, who has had frequent contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tested positive, the Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife, who also contracted the virus, are in isolation, feel well and are being treated, the ministry statement said.

The Middle East has over 81,000 confirmed cases of the virus, most of those in Iran, and over 3,600 deaths. Iran’s Health Ministry said Thursday that the new coronavirus killed another 124 people, pushing the country’s death toll to 3,160.

5 a.m. Canada Revenue Agency employees brace for the floodgates to open Monday. That’s when they begin the monumental task of delivering on historic federal benefits meant to mitigate the disastrous economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Normally at tax time the agency has between 3,000 and 4,000 employees working the phones at call centres across the country.

Now they will be working from home and more than 1,000 CRA employees have volunteered to bolster those numbers and take calls from an estimated 300,000 Canadians per day who are expected to inquire about the government’s $2,000-a-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

4:01 a.m.: The new coronavirus has spawned an increase in online and telephone crime, targeting anxious Canadians who are self-isolating at home in front of their computers, experts say.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has received over 100 recent complaints linked to COVID-19, said Jeff Thomson, a senior RCMP analyst.

“The Public Health Agency of Canada, World Health Organization, federal agencies, Canadian government, you name it, they’re mimicking anybody and everybody that is an authority on this matter,” said Thomson.

The list includes false ads for face masks, hand sanitizers or virus home test kits, charity fraud, extortion and so-called phishing scams, where fake emails are sent out from what appears to be a reputable agency.

4:01 a.m.: There are 9,729 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

Quebec: 4,611 confirmed (including 33 deaths, 155 resolved)

Ontario: 2,392 confirmed (including 37 deaths, 689 resolved)

British Columbia: 1,066 confirmed (including 25 deaths, 606 resolved)

Alberta: 871 confirmed (including 11 deaths, 142 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 193 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 21 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 175 confirmed (including 1 death, 10 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 173 confirmed (including 10 resolved)

Manitoba: 109 confirmed (including 1 death, 4 resolved), 18 presumptive

New Brunswick: 81 confirmed (including 9 resolved)

Prince Edward Island: 21 confirmed (including 3 resolved)

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Yukon: 5 confirmed

Northwest Territories: 1 confirmed

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 9,729 (18 presumptive, 9,711 confirmed including 111 deaths, 1,649 resolved)

4 a.m.: One of Canada’s largest veterans’ organizations is urging the federal government to automatically approve roughly 44,000 outstanding applications for disability benefits to help injured veterans better deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

The call from the National Council of Veteran Associations, which represents more than 60 groups, comes amid fears about the financial and emotional toll the pandemic is having on veterans with mental and physical wounds.

1:16 a.m.: Amid fears bootleggers could introduce COVID-19 into N.W.T. communities, the Dene Nation is examining how the territory might handle liquor and addictions.

“We’ve got to take actions into our own hands and let people know to stay home,” Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya said. “And if you’re coming into the community from Alberta or a mining company, self-isolate.” (At the moment, the N.W.T.’s order on travel restrictions doesn’t require mine workers to self-isolate.)

Yakeleya said the N.W.T.’s grand chiefs want to look more closely at liquor store closures, a subject that could be controversial for both larger centres and smaller communities. The N.W.T. has said the stores should stay open, while concerns have been expressed about bootleggers inadvertently bringing COVID-19 into communities.

9:32 p.m. U.S. President Donald Trump says there are plans to remove nearly 250 Canadians from two cruise ships and get them back to Canada.

The U.S. Coast Guard has directed all cruise ships to remain at sea where they may be sequestered “indefinitely” during the coronavirus pandemic, but Trump said Canada is coming to get the Canadians from the MS Zaandam and its sister ship the Rotterdam.

Trump said the same is true for citizens of the United Kingdom on the ships.

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