Read The Star’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.

The latest novel coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Saturday (this file will be updated throughout the day):

9:20 p.m.: Ontario is now restricting gatherings of more than five people.

There are a few exceptions, including for households with more than five people.

Child-care centres looking after the kids of front-line workers will be allowed to have a maximum of 50 people.

There’s also an exception for funerals, which will allow up to 10 people at a time.

The province had previously restricted gatherings to a maximum of 50 people.

8:50 p.m.: Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says the MS Zaandam cruise ship will be allowed through to its final destination.

There are 248 Canadians stranded aboard the ship off the coast of Panama, where some passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 and four people have died.

Champagne says his Panamanian counterpart has confirmed that the Zaandam will be allowed through the Panama Canal to get to its final destination of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

8:30 p.m.: Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says she’s received the all-clear from her doctor and Ottawa Public Health.

In a Facebook post, she says she’s feeling much better.

“From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you to everyone who reached out to me with their well wishes. And to everyone who is suffering right now, I send you all my love.”

She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 12 after returning from the U.K.

The diagnosis sent her and her family, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, into self-isolation in their Ottawa home.

7:20 p.m.: Alberta is reporting 79 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 621.

That total includes two deaths linked to the virus.

The provincial epicentre appears to be the Calgary area, which is reporting 378 cases.

The Edmonton area has 139.

6:30 p.m.: Ontario is cutting some of the red-tape in long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province says it’s removing certain administrative and regulatory requirements to free up staff for more direct care.

It says it’s redeploying inspectors to help with “critical areas of need” — a measure it says was also taken during the SARS pandemic in 2003.

5:30 p.m.: Ontario is reporting that another COVID-19 patient has died.

That brings the total number of deaths linked to the virus in the province to 19.

But health officials aren’t reporting any new cases since their update earlier in the day.

They say there have been 1,144 cases in the province, including those who have died and eight people who have recovered.

4:43 p.m.There are 5,576 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

Quebec: 2,498 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1 resolved)

Ontario: 1,144 confirmed (including 18 deaths, 8 resolved)

British Columbia: 884 confirmed p.m.: (including 17 deaths, 396 resolved)

Alberta: 542 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 33 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 134 confirmed (including 3 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 120 confirmed (including 4 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 110 confirmed

Manitoba: 25 confirmed (including 1 death), 39 presumptive

New Brunswick: 51 confirmed

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Prince Edward Island: 11 confirmed

Yukon: 4 confirmed

Northwest Territories: 1 confirmed

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 5,576 (39 presumptive, 5,537 confirmed

4:40 p.m.: The Quebec government is moving to protect some of the province’s more remote regions from the spread of COVID-19 by setting up checkpoints to block non-essential travel.

Deputy premier Genevieve Guilbault announced the measure Saturday as health officials reported nearly 2,500 people in the province have tested positive for the disease.

She said police checkpoints would be established on major roads in and out of those areas as of Saturday afternoon.

Quebec health authorities say there are now 2,498 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province, and four additional deaths were reported Saturday, bringing the total to 22 deaths.

4:15 p.m.: Saskatchewan is reporting 30 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, and officials say there’s been a large increase in cases connected with a snowmobile rally held earlier this month.

The province says in a news release that the new cases bring the total number in Saskatchewan to 134.

On Wednesday, health officials warned anyone who had attended the Lakeland Snowmobile Club Wilderness Rally Supper on March 14 between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. to immediately self-isolate, following news that a person who was at the rally tested positive for COVID-19.

The province now says 18 cases in total have been linked to the event, and all of them are self-isolating at home.

4:20 p.m.: Medical and health associations in Ontario issued a warning as a surge in the prescription of two drugs that appear to be circulating as treatments for COVID-19 despite both a “serious lack of evidence” that they work and have significant potential side-effects.

The prescriptions involve a combination of hydroxychloroquine sulfate (brand name Plaquenil) and azithromycin (brand name Zithromax). The first is often used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and acute malaria attacks, while the latter is prescribed for the treatment of mild to moderate infections caused by pharyngitis, tonsillitis and community-acquired pneumonia among others.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump called the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine a “game-changer” in fighting the new coronavirus. But medical associations say it is not evidence-based.

4:15 p.m.: There are 5,546 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

Quebec: 2,498 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1 resolved)

Ontario: 1,144 confirmed (including 18 deaths, 8 resolved)

British Columbia: 884 confirmed (including 17 deaths, 396 resolved)

Alberta: 542 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 33 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 120 confirmed (including 4 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 110 confirmed

Saskatchewan: 104 confirmed (including 3 resolved)

Manitoba: 25 confirmed (including 1 death), 39 presumptive

New Brunswick: 51 confirmed

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Prince Edward Island: 11 confirmed

Yukon: 4 confirmed

Northwest Territories: 1 confirmed

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 5,546 (39 presumptive, 5,507 confirmed including 60 deaths, 445 resolved)

3:40 p.m.: Goalie equipment manufacturer Brian’s Custom Sports in southwestern Ontario has begun producing medical supplies for area hospitals.

The company in Kingsville, Ont., was originally approached by public health officials about its surplus of double-sided tape and foam.

But when the Ontario government closed non-essential businesses to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the firm was asked to change its production.

Now its 15-person sewing team is producing medical gowns for front-line medical workers for Windsor-Essex EMS.

3:35 p.m.: There are 20 new cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, including two related to long-term care facilities in the province.

The announcement brings the total number of cases in the province to 110.

An employee at R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home in Antigonish has tested positive, as has an employee at Lewis Hall, a private retirement living community in Dartmouth.

The province says all residents, their families and staff at both facilities have been notified, and there are no cases of COVID-19 among residents of long-term care facilities at this time.

3:25 p.m.: City of Toronto news release says people are not respecting the new rules in parks. “Barriers to closed City park equipment and facilities have been removed. People of all ages are regularly seen in groups with much less than two metres between them in City green spaces and public spaces.”

3:20 p.m.: New Toronto COVID-19 figures: 512 people are confirmed to be infected, up from 457 reported cases late Friday afternoon. (Figures are as of 1 p.m.) 36 people are hospitalized, 17 of them in intensive care, up from 15 on Friday.

3:20 p.m. British Columbia announced 92 new cases of COVID-19 and one death from the virus in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region on Saturday.

That brings the province’s total to 884 positive cases. 81 people in B.C. are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 and 12 people are in ICU. A total of 12 long-term care homes have had at least one resident or staff test positive in B.C.

3:16 p.m.: An employee at a Loblaws has tested positive for COVID-19.

On Saturday, Loblaws stated that an employee at Dunfield Loblaws at Yonge and Eglinton tested positive for COVID-19. The employee was last in the store on March 17.

1:14 p.m. Premier Doug Ford is taking aim at price gougers with stiff new penalties and a snitch line after blowing his stack at a Toronto store charging $29.99 for a package of Lysol disinfectant wipes.

The government is also poised to pass an order limiting gatherings to no larger than five people, down from the current 50, with exemptions for essential services and families.

1 p.m.: Ontario reported 151 new COVID-19 cases Saturday afternoon, an increase of 15 per cent bringing up the provincial total to 1,144. Those included 18 deaths, two of which have not been lab-confirmed, and eight people whose cases have fully resolved.

The number of people currently under investigation dropped by 1,384. There are currently 8,690 people under investigation in the province with 43,072 people approved for testing, 33,240 of whom tested negative.

12:45 p.m. Twelve per cent of the people in hospital for COVID-19 are under the age of 40, Canada’s chief public health officer says.

“I am reminding Canadians not to underestimate the severity of this disease,” Dr. Theresa Tam told a news conference Saturday, noting there are now 55 deaths and 5,153 confirmed cases from testing across the country.

11:50 a.m.: The Chinese Embassy announced that the Bank of China is donating medical supplies (including 30,000 medical masks, 10,000 sets of protective clothing, 10,000 goggles and 50,000 pairs of gloves, followed by N95 medical masks) to Canada for its battle against the virus. That would amount to more equipment than Canada donated to China when the coronavirus was raging in Hubei province.

11:22 a.m.: The federal government is imposing domestic travel restrictions in the fight against COVID-19.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday morning that as of Monday, anybody exhibiting symptoms of the virus will not be permitted to board domestic flights or trains for inter-city trips.

Canada has already put sharp restrictions on international travel, including along the U.S. border, but has so far resisted imposing domestic travel restrictions on citizens.

Trudeau again urged Canadians to stay indoors if at all possible in order to slow COVID-19’s spread through the population. He said “social isolation” measures have been showing promise, particularly in British Columbia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that as of Monday at noon, people showing any signs of COVID-19 will be denied boarding on all domestic flights or inter-city transit trips.

11:18 a.m.: Global Affairs Canada says a Canadian citizen who was on a cruise has died from complications related to COVID-19 in Brazil.

A spokesperson says its thoughts are with the victim’s family and that the news has saddened the department. Global Affairs says it will not provide further details for privacy reasons.

9:40 a.m.: Police fired tear gas at a crowd of Kenyan ferry commuters as the country’s first day of a coronavirus curfew slid into chaos.

Virus prevention measures have taken a violent turn in parts of Africa as countries impose lockdowns and curfews or seal off major cities. Health experts say the virus’s spread, though at an early stage, resembles the pattern seen in Europe, adding to widespread anxiety. Cases across Africa were set to climb above 4,000 Saturday.

Abuses of the new measures by authorities are an immediate concern.

Minutes after South Africa’s three-week lockdown began Friday, police screamed at homeless people in downtown Johannesburg and went after some with batons. Some citizens reported the police use of rubber bullets. Fifty-five people across the country were arrested.

8:39 a.m.: The number of confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide topped 600,000 on Saturday as new cases stacked up quickly in Europe and the United States and officials dug in for a long fight against the pandemic.

The latest landmark came only two days after the world passed half a million infections, according to a tally by John Hopkins University, showing that much work remains to be done to slow the spread of the virus. It showed more than 607,000 cases and a total of over 28,000 deaths.

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While the U.S. now leads the world in reported infections — with more than 104,000 cases — five countries exceed its roughly 1,700 deaths: Italy, Spain, China, Iran and France.

8 a.m. Spain’s death toll from the pandemic jumped to 5,690 on Saturday, with 832 fatalities in the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry. The number of those infected also rose to 72,248 from 64,059, a rise of close to 13 per cent.

Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus pandemic began, Wuhan, has partially reopened after more than two months of isolation. Media report that people are being allowed to enter but not to leave.

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, saw more than 50,000 coronavirus cases.

On Saturday, Hubei reported 54 new cases emerging the previous day, which it said were all imported, the BBC reported.

7:40 a.m.: Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike says the government is considering using the Olympic Village in Tokyo as a place for patients with milder cases of illness caused by the coronavirus to stay.

During the Olympics and Paralympics, about 18,000 people including athletes are expected to stay in the roughly 3,800 units across 21 buildings in the village in the Harumi district of Chuo Ward. The Games have been postponed until 2021.

7:30 a.m.: An employee at an LCBO store has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario says it learned Thursday night an employee at one of its Toronto stores tested positive.

The employee last worked on March 20.

The individual last worked at the store — at Allen and Rimrock roads, north of Sheppard Avenue West. — on March 20. It as been temporarily closed and affected employees have been told to self-isolate.

While Ontario has ordered all non-essential businesses to close, liquor stores are allowed to remain open.

7:25 a.m. Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday, with hundreds of passengers unsure how long they will remain at sea.

Global Affairs Canada says it is aware of 248 Canadians on the ship — 247 passengers and one crew member. Holland America Line confirmed Canadians are not among the four dead.

Global Affairs says it is actively monitoring the situation and has contacted the Canadians on board to provide information on how they can protect themselves. Global Affairs adds it is talking with Panama’s government and working with Holland America on plans to get the Canadians home.

7:20 a.m.: The United Nations says 86 staff members around the world have reported cases of COVID-19.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said most of the infected staff members are in Europe, but there are also staffers in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the United States that have the coronavirus.

7:17 a.m.: Actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson returned to the United States Friday, weeks after testing positive in Australia for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The two arrived in Los Angeles by private jet, and couldn’t look any happier, TMZ and The New York Post reported.

7:15 a.m.: The TTC says it’s taking steps to alleviate the crowding on buses that some riders and transit operators worry is increasing their risk of contracting COVID-19.

Despite systemwide TTC ridership falling roughly 70 per cent below normal levels since the pandemic shut down much of civic life earlier this month, in recent days transit users have reported close to full loads on some buses.

7 a.m.: There are 4,757 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

Quebec: 2,021 confirmed (including 18 deaths, 1 resolved)

Ontario: 993 confirmed (including 18 deaths, 8 resolved)

British Columbia: 792 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 275 resolved)

Alberta: 542 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 33 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 104 confirmed (including 3 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 102 confirmed

Nova Scotia: 90 confirmed

New Brunswick: 45 confirmed

Manitoba: 25 confirmed (including 1 death), 14 presumptive

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Prince Edward Island: 11 confirmed

Yukon: 4 confirmed

Northwest Territories: 1 confirmed

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 4,757 (14 presumptive, 4,743 confirmed including 55 deaths, 320 resolved)

FRIDAY

5:30 p.m. There were no new cases of COVID-19 in the province, according to the government’s daily 5:30 p.m. update.

The numbers given at the 10:30 a.m. update remain the most up-to-date information.

There is now a provincial total of 993 cases and 18 deaths.

Ontario reported 135 new COVID-19 cases and three new deaths Friday, including two at a nursing home that local officials say is the site of the province’s largest outbreak, according to The Canadian Press.

The provincial total of COVID-19 cases is now 993, including 18 deaths and eight people whose cases have fully resolved.

No information was made available Friday about the 135 new cases, but associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said 60 of the province’s active cases are in hospital. There are 43 people in intensive care and 32 of them are on ventilators, she said.

One-third of the province’s deaths have been long-term care residents.

Two residents of a Bobcaygeon, Ont., nursing home died amid a COVID-19 outbreak there that has also left at least 14 staff members infected, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit said.

Three residents at Pinecrest Nursing Home tested positive and since then, 35 other residents developed symptoms, although they have not been tested, according to provincial guidelines, as the virus was already confirmed to be in the facility, said the region’s medical officer of health, Dr. Lynn Noseworthy.

Ontario has already barred all but essential visitors to long-term care homes and is not allowing residents to come and go.

“We know that people who are over 70 are 10 per cent more likely to contract COVID-19,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott.

“If you’re over 80, you’re 20 per cent more likely to get it. And we know many people who are in long-term care of course have other health issues.”

Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said the province has started to make progress on a backlog of pending test results. The number dropped for the first time Friday, from nearly 11,000 to just over 10,000.

Ontario hopes to be doing 5,000 tests a day by the end of the weekend.

5:23 p.m. There are 4,768 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada, according to The Canadian Press. Of these 11 are presumptive, and 4,757 confirmed, including 55 deaths and 320 resolved.

Quebec: 2,021 confirmed (including 18 deaths, one resolved)

Ontario: 993 confirmed (including 18 deaths, eight resolved)

British Columbia: 792 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 275 resolved)

Alberta: 542 confirmed (including two deaths, 33 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 104 confirmed (including 3 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 102 confirmed

Nova Scotia: 90 confirmed

Manitoba: 39 confirmed (including one death), 11 presumptive

New Brunswick: 45 confirmed

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Prince Edward Island: 11 confirmed

Yukon: four confirmed

Northwest Territories: one confirmed

Nunavut reports that it has no confirmed cases.

5:17 p.m. Toronto Police confirmed that a uniformed officer from 14 Division tested positive for COVID-19.

“We are working with public health authorities who are conducting an in-depth investigation related to the individual and their contacts,” spokesperson Meaghan Gray wrote in an email. “All proper notifications were made and immediate steps were taken.”

This is the first case of a uniformed police officer testing positive for the coronavirus. Last week, the agency confirmed that a civilian employee had tested positive.

3:55 p.m. There are 457 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Toronto, up 118 from yesterday, 29 cases are hospitalized, 15 are in ICU. Around a quarter of cases are attributed to community spread. Eighteen people have recovered, according to Dr. Eileen de Villa, medical officer of health for the City of Toronto.

Correction – March 29, 2020: This article has been updated from a previous version that incorrectly stated the percentage of people hospitalized with COVID-19 who are under age 40. Dr. Theresa Tam, the federal government’s chief public health officer says she “misspoke” at her Saturday noon briefing in reporting 30 per cent of Canadians hospitalized with COVID-19 are under 40. The correct figure is 12 per cent.