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

10 p.m.: Two Manitoba government liquor stores in north Winnipeg have been temporarily closed after a worker tested positive for COVID-19.

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries says the employee worked in a store in the Garden City neighbourhood last Saturday and is self-isolating at home.

A second outlet has been closed because a worker there had been in contact with the Garden City employee who tested positive.

Both outlets are being cleaned and the Crown corporation is asking customers who attended the Garden City store last Saturday and who may have symptoms to call the provincial Health Links phone line for advice.

9:35 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 says Canada is coming to get the Canadians from the MS Zaandam and its sister ship the Rotterdam.

The ships hope to dock in Florida.

Trump made the comments at his daily press briefing.

Global Affairs Canada has said there are 97 Canadian passengers on the Zaandam and 150 Canadians on the Rotterdam.

At this time, no COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among Canadian passengers.

6:39 p.m.: The Beer Store announced it will begin to accept empties at select retail locations as of April 6. The retailer said it has temporarily reduced the number of stores accepting empties as it ensures it has enough personal protective equipment and can maintain social distancing.

Returns will begin at 71 stores initially. These locations will modify hours to 10 a.m.-4 p.m .Monday through Saturday, and regular operating hours on Sunday

6:10 p.m.: The number of COVID-19 deaths in Toronto surged to 19 between Tuesday and Wednesday as the virus continued to spread in local nursing homes. Toronto Public Health reported Wednesday that the deadly pandemic sweeping has now claimed the lives of 19 Torontonians, up from 11 reported on Tuesday night.

The number of people with confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 jumped to 818, with 75 of them in hospital and 35 in intensive care. That’s up from 793 confirmed or probable cases, with 65 in hospital and 33 in intensive care.

A total of eight people from Seven Oaks, a City of Toronto long-term-care home in Scarborough, have now died, up from four reported as of last night. The home has a total of 77 confirmed and probable cases. (CORRECTION — This post corrects an earlier update that said there had been six new deaths at Seven Oaks.)

5:27 p.m.: Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson says the 2020 Queen’s Plate has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The thoroughbred horse race, which was to be run June 27 at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, is the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America dating back to 1860.

Last month Woodbine Entertainment postponed the start of the 2020 racing season.

5:06 p.m.: According to the Star’s tally from all the local health units in the province, there are at least 2,806 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including at least 82 deaths.

Wednesday afternoon saw the number of COVID-19 victims in the province jump dramatically in Toronto — with eight new deaths reported in the city — and at a pair of ongoing outbreaks in Ontario nursing homes, with two new deaths reported at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont., and another two at the Landmark Village home in Sarnia.

The Star’s tally, compiled at 5 p.m. Wednesday, is significantly higher than the total reported by Public Health Ontario. 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 may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

(CORRECTED) 4:54 p.m.: Toronto Public Health confirms four new deaths that were reported overnight at the Seven Oaks nursing home in Scarborough, bringing the total there to eight deaths.

Seven Oaks has 23 confirmed cases (14 residents, including 8 deaths; 9 staff with no deaths); 54 probable resident cases. The ages of the residents who died range from their 60s to their 90s; six of these eight are over 85 years old.

The home is on Neilson Road, near Ellesmere Road, and had two deaths last week tied to “presumptive” cases

4:20 p.m.: There have been a total of eight deaths at Seven Oaks nursing home in Scarborough, CP24 reports, citing Toronto Public Health. The home is on Neilson Road, near Ellesmere Road, and had two deaths last week tied to “presumptive” cases.

4:04 p.m.: Two more residents of a Bobcaygeon, Ont., nursing home dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak have died.

Fourteen residents and the spouse of a resident of Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon have now died amid what the local health unit is calling the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the province.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has said at least 24 staff members are also infected.

3:48 p.m.: The federal government likely did not have enough protective equipment in its emergency stockpile to meet needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Minister Patty Hajdu acknowledges.

Successive governments in Ottawa have not spent enough money preparing for public-health crises, Hajdu told a news conference. Federal officials are now working hard to procure scarce equipment such as surgical masks at a time when governments everywhere are scrambling to do the same, she said.

“We likely did not have enough. I think federal governments for decades have been underfunding things like public-health preparedness, and I would say that obviously governments all across the world are in the same exact situation,” Hajdu said.

3:39 p.m.: Manitoba’s COVID-19 numbers continue to climb and health officials say they are now seeing early signs of community transmission in Winnipeg. The province has announced 24 new probable or confirmed cases, bringing the total to 127.

Among them are three health-care workers — at two hospitals in Winnipeg and one in Selkirk.

3:34 p.m.: Nearly a quarter of Quebec’s seniors residences have at least one case of COVID-19, Premier François Legault said Wednesday.

Legault said 519 of the province’s roughly 2,200 seniors homes and long-term-care facilities have reported cases, and he urged Quebecers to refrain from visiting elderly people who are highly susceptible to the virus.

“There must be no visits in residences. It’s a matter of life and death,” he said.

3:07 p.m.: A senior Saudi official urged more than one million Muslims intending to perform the hajj to delay making plans this year — comments suggesting the pilgrimage could be cancelled due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

In February, the kingdom took the extraordinary decision to close off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to foreigners over the virus, a step which wasn’t taken even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide.

2:45 p.m.: The City of Brampton has issued its first ticket under its new physical distancing bylaw after a resident called 311 to report a backyard party in their neighbourhood.

2:30 p.m.: Finance Minister Bill Morneau says wage subsidies for large and small businesses will cost about $71 billion.

The program is expected to offset the cost of emergency benefits for workers, and reduce spending on those benefits to $24 billion.

The wage subsidy will be available to large and small businesses who have lost significant revenue due to COVID-19.

Morneau has encouraged businesses to rehire employees they may have laid off in the wake of COVID-19, and says the wage subsidy will be available in six weeks.

2:29 p.m.: Plans to get nearly 250 Canadians off the MS Zaandam and its sister ship, the MS Rotterdam, were still in doubt Wednesday morning despite assurances from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The U.S. Coast Guard has directed all cruise ships to remain at sea where they may be sequestered “indefinitely” during the coronavirus pandemic. They must also be prepared to send any severely ill passengers to the countries where the vessels are registered.

2:15 p.m.: The Manitoba government has announced another 24 probable or confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 127.

The province’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, says officials are seeing early signs of community transmission in Winnipeg, and he is urging people to stay home as much as possible.

The cases include three health care workers and officials are tracking other staff or patients who may have had close contact with those individuals.

1:45 p.m.: There are 11 new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick, raising the provincial total to 81.

Chief medical health officer, Dr. Jennifer Russell says of the total, 43 cases involved travel outside of New Brunswick, 22 were close contacts of other positive cases, there were three cases of community transmission, while 13 cases are still under investigation.

There have been no cases of people contracting COVID-19 in New Brunswick health care facilities so far, but Russell says a number of health care workers have contracted the virus outside of their workplace. They are self-isolating.

Russell also confirms the case of a taxi-driver in Fredericton who has tested positive after picking up a passenger who had travelled. Contacts with that driver have been contacted by Public Health.

1:35 p.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting 26 new cases of COVID-19 bringing the provincial total to 173 confirmed cases.

Health officials say of the 26 new cases of COVID-19, one is a staff member at The Magnolia residential care home in Enfield outside Halifax. That makes three staff members and two residents at the home who have tested positive.

Officials say most cases in Nova Scotia are connected to travel or a known case, while there is one confirmed case of community transmission and more cases are expected.

1:30 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford said he would listen to Ontario’s chief medical officer and health professionals on whether to make masks mandatory for all health-care workers in long-term care facilities.

“I’ve been saying from Day 1. I take the advice of the chief medical officer of health and our health professionals,” he said. “I understand, it’s difficult. Personally and I don’t overrule — again, I want to stress this — I listen to the health professionals. Are you safer with the mask? Absolutely you’re safer. I can’t stand up here and say you wouldn’t be safer without a mask.”

1:20 p.m.: Ford suggests more businesses in Ontario are going to be ordered to shut down when asked about construction sites and others still considered essential. “We’re going to be adjusting that list in the next day or so.”

1:19 p.m.: Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the number of COVID-19 cases in the province is now 4,611, an increase of 449 over a day ago.

There were also two new deaths, bringing the provincial total to 33. Legault says there are 519 seniors’ residences with at least one case, which he described as a source of concern for the province.

1:17 p.m.: Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has appealed to the nation’s landlords to not evict tenants who cannot pay their rent today.

The government is planning to provide benefits to people who have lost their income due to COVID-19 but that money has not started to flow yet, leaving many people unable to pay their rent.

Freeland says it would be heartless for landlords to evict tenants during this crisis.

She says for those landlords who need rent money to pay their mortgage, the federal government has worked with banks to try to give homeowners some breathing room.

1:15 p.m.: Ontario establishes $50 million fund to help manufacturers re-tool factories to make masks, ventilators and other gear needed to fight COVID-19. “Your province needs you now,” Premier Doug Ford says. “We have some dark days ahead.”

1:04 p.m.: A sombre Ford warns “there is very little separating us” from what happened in Italy or Spain to what could happen in Ontario. “We know a surge is coming.”

12:50 p.m.: Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the health care system has the potential to be overwhelmed in all of the COVID-19 scenarios projected by the federal government.

The government has not shared any of its projections related to how the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to play out in Canada.

But Tam says the health system is not designed to deal with this kind of surge, and could be facing difficult decisions about how to allocate scarce resources in all those scenarios. She says in some of the worst case scenarios, the health care system will not be able to cope.

12:45 p.m.: There are no new cases of COVID-19 on Prince Edward Island Wednesday, with the provincial total remaining at 21.

Chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says three of the Island cases are considered recovered. All the cases on the Island have been the result of international travel.

12:45 p.m.: There are 23 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, all within the Eastern Health authority.

The total number of known cases of the illness in the province is now 175. Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, chief medical officer of health, says 15 people have been hospitalized and three are in intensive care. She says 10 people have recovered.

12:40 p.m.: Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough says the backlog of employment insurance claims filed in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis will be addressed within the week.

Canada has seen an unprecedented surge in requests for support. In the last two weeks 1.3 million EI claims have been filed, compared to just 2.1 million for all of last year.

Qualtrough says the department has found a way to streamline applications, and starting today they will be able to process 400,000 applications per day.

12:35 p.m.: Health Minister Patty Hajdu says the government has created a mobile app to provide direct updates on COVID-19.

The app will provide updates on the latest government measures and public health advice to limit the spread of the virus. It will also include a self-assessment tool for people experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

12:26 p.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the United States appears to have backed off on its plan to send soldiers to the Canada-U.S. border.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had been floating the idea to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials keep migrants from crossing the border between official entry points, ostensibly to limit the possible spread of COVID-19.

But Trudeau’s equivocal language Wednesday suggests the idea might not be off the table.

“The ongoing conversations we have with the American administration continue on a broad range of subjects, and we have heard that that is not something they are continuing to pursue,” the prime minister said.

“But we will, of course, continue to engage with the American administration as new situations come up and as things develop.”

12:10 p.m.: Trudeau says the government is expecting a shipment of much needed medical supplies in a few days, or even sooner.

Several provinces have reported shortages of personal protective equipment for front line workers, given that the equipment is in demand all over the world.

Trudeau says the government is working with international partners to try to bring more surgical masks and in-demand supplies to Canada.

11:40 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s asked the government house leader to reach out to opposition parties about bringing back parliament.

He says the entire government needs to be involved in the largest economic program in Canada’s history.

Canada’s parliament was suspended on March 13 to limit the spread of the virus and allow the cabinet to focus on the COVID-19 response.

It briefly reconvened last week to pass the government’s emergency COVID-19 response bill.

11:35 a.m.: Ontario began “enhancing” the pandemic data it provides to the public earlier this week, but provincial health officials are not reporting more than 1,000 that are very likely to be COVID-19 but lack lab confirmation because of test rationing, backlogs or flawed results. Read the story from the Star’s Kate Allen.

11:30 a.m.: According to the Star’s tally from all the local health units in the province, there are at least 2,581 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including at least 65 deaths.

Newly reported deaths include the sixth death in York Region, a 92-year-old man who was a resident of the Markhaven Home for Seniors; the death of an Elgin County woman in her 70s; and the first COVID-19 deaths reported in Hastings-Prince Edward and Windsor-Essex.

The Star’s tally, compiled at 11 a.m. Wednesday, is significantly higher than the provincial report earlier in the morning.

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

11:09 a.m.: Wimbledon was cancelled on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time since the Second World War that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament won’t be played.

Wimbledon was scheduled to be played on the club’s grass courts on the outskirts of London from June 29 to July 12. Instead, the next edition of the tournament will be June 28 to July 11, 2021.

11:05 a.m.: Ontario’s chief medical officer Dr. David Williams is “strongly urging” his local public health counterparts to invoke a law allowing them to issue orders restricting the movements of COVID-19 patients and their contacts.

10:50 a.m.: According to the Star’s tally from all the local health units in the province, there are 2,451 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Ontario and at least 61 deaths. These numbers were of the end of day Tuesday.

The death toll compiled by the Star is significantly higher than the provincial report earlier in the morning.

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The Star’s count of COVID-19 deaths is based on the public tallies and news 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 may be incomplete or out of date, due to delays in its reporting system.

10:35 a.m.: Ontario has reported 426 new COVID-19 cases for a provincial total of 2,392 patients. It’s the biggest one-day spike reported by the province since the outbreak began. This is from data compiled as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The new cases mark a 21.7 per cent increase from the last daily report. According to the provincial report, 37 people in Ontario have died, 689 cases have been resolved and 3,135 under investigation.

10:30 a.m.: Mayor John Tory says the numbers in the COVID-19 outbreak in Toronto are “turning the wrong way.”

10:17 a.m.: Toronto’s medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa emphasizing that residents should stay home, and only go out as needed and just for essentials. Under provincial advice, local public health officers can issue “written orders” to those with COVID-19 “to take or to refrain from taking any action that is specified.” Says these measures may need to be in place for “up to 12 weeks” which would be until the end of June.

10:14 a.m.: De Villa recommending new measures including issuing orders to “emphasize the significance” of self-isolation for those tested positive, suspected cases and close contacts.

10:10 a.m.: De Villa reviewing how few cases the city had at the start of March.

“COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on our world and on our city,” she says. As of Tuesday, Toronto reported 628 confirmed cases and 165 “probable” cases with 65 people in hospital and 33 in ICUs.

“Given this is our current situation, it is my belief that we must, we must absolutely implement stronger measures to avoid the type of results that we are seeing in places like New York City. One only has to look at the news to see what is happening there.”

“I feel the need and obligation to use my powers to the greatest extent possible to save lives.”

9:45 a.m.: Some Manitoba health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19, leading to other health workers having to self-isolate.

One staff member at a hospital in Selkirk tested positive after travelling within Canada, and had been working while symptomatic between March 19 and 23.

The Manitoba Nurses Union says a nurse at a hospital emergency room in Winnipeg has also tested positive.

And St. Boniface Hospital has sent a letter to workers that says a staff member in the echocardiography department has tested positive, and was working while symptomatic on March 25.

9:20 a.m.: Sources tell the Star’s David Rider that the City of Toronto will make a “significant” announcement on new measures to enforce social distancing at a 10 a.m. news conference.

8:30 a.m.: COVID-19 is surging in Toronto long-term-care homes, with public health reporting three new deaths as tests confirm the virus is now in 15 nursing homes, with outbreaks in six. Read more by clicking here. The city is expected to address the issue at 10 a.m.

8:15 a.m.: Parking will be free for front-line workers at the University Health Network for at least the next month, says UHN CEO and president Kevin Smith.

The announcement was made on Tuesday during a “virtual open-forum” for the hospital network’s staff live-streamed on YouTube.

“A number of our very generous donors and our board leaders have made donations to ensure that parking will be without cost for the next month to our front line workers and I’m so pleased and thankful for that,” said Smith during the live-stream. “I know that’s something you’ve wanted, and I’m happy to share we’ll be moving to that model.”

The rate for parking for front-line staff was $127 for a 10-day parking pass. UHN initially planned to lower the cost to $100 per pass before deciding to make it free entirely.

8:10 a.m.: A hospital in Burlington, Ont., is building a temporary COVID-19 unit in anticipation of a surge of patients.

Joseph Brant Hospital says the structure being built on hospital grounds will have 93 beds.

The hospital’s chief of staff, Dr. Ian Preyra, says the pandemic response unit will allow the hospital to keep its critical care and high acuity beds for the sickest patients.

7:30 a.m.: A driver in Ottawa’s transit system is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. The city says the driver developed symptoms on March 20 and was tested for the virus that causes the illness the next day.

The local health unit says there’s concern the driver might have spread the virus in the days before feeling sick. The city says it’s deep-cleaning the buses that the person drove, which mostly ran between downtown Ottawa and western suburbs.

7:25 a.m.: A ship carrying passengers sick with COVID-19 is expected to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday. About 250 Canadians are among the passengers aboard Holland America’s Zaandam, which was denied entry by several countries after reporting four deaths and dozens of infections.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the state’s health care resources are already stretched too thin to take on the ships’ coronavirus caseload. But President Donald Trump said people are dying on the ship, and he’s going to do “the right thing” for humanity and allow it to dock in Florida.

6:35 a.m.: It’s April 1 and rent payments are due for millions of Canadians for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic led to an economic shutdown and many layoffs.

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have signed petitions, asking for the outright cancellation of rents and mortgage payments for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggests that’s not going to happen, but says the banks have been asked to give people a break if they need it.

Multiple provinces have placed an outright ban on evictions, while others have placed an effective ban by closing down landlord and tenant boards.

Applications for federal support payments and details about wage subsidies that are meant to help Canadians weather the storm are still to be released.

6:05 a.m.: The TTC will be adding 47 extra buses during the early morning and morning rush hour across 15 bus routes to allow customers to better practise physical distancing. The TTC asks that riders consider delaying non-essential trips until after 8 a.m. These routes are getting additional buses: 300 Bloor-Danforth Blue Night, 320 Yonge Blue Night, 35 Jane, 37 Islington, 39 Finch East, 41 Keele, 44 Kipling South, 52 Lawrence West, 96 Wilson, 102 Markham Rd, 117 Alness-Chesswood, 119 Torbarrie, 123 Sherway, 165 Weston Rd North.

5:35 a.m.: Global shares skidded Wednesday as reports of rising numbers of coronavirus cases deepened the gloom over the likely impact on the world economy.

France’s CAC 40 slipped 3.6 per cent to 4,241.02 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX shed 2.9 per cent to 9,648.42. Britain’s FTSE 100 plunged 3.9 per cent to 5,450.63 after major banks announced they were scrapping dividend payments, bringing their share prices sharply lower.

5:26 a.m.: Spain is frantically working to add to the number of intensive care units in hospitals which are quickly filling up in the country’s hardest-hit regions.

The country counted on 5,779 ICU beds before the coronavirus crisis. As of Tuesday, it has 5,607 patients in ICU. But, in the leading hot spots of Madrid and northeast Catalonia have almost tripled their capacity in recent weeks by adding intensive care beds at hospital facilities and deploying field hospitals. In the Spanish capital, the first intensive care units were finished on Wednesday in a huge field hospital that is planned to hold 5,500 patients when completed.

Although Spain has had over 19,000 recovered patients as of Tuesday, a key issue is that COVID-19 patients who need intensive care occupy a bed for some 3-4 weeks. So authorities are warning that even when Spain manages to halt contagions there will still be increasing pressure on its hospitals for several days or weeks.

4:15 a.m.: Canadians are supposed to get more details today of the federal government’s massive emergency wage subsidy program — a day later than promised.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Small Business Minister Mary Ng were to have held a news conference Tuesday to fill in the details of the program — including the multibillion-dollar price tag — but that was cancelled.

The pair, along with Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, are expected to try again today to explain the program, aimed at saving jobs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has shuttered businesses across the country.

A government official says the delay was simply a matter of trying to iron out all the fine print in a huge program that, in normal circumstances, would have taken months to put together.

4:15 a.m.: President Donald Trump warned Americans to brace for a “hell of a bad two weeks” ahead as the White House projected there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.

Public health officials stressed that the number could be less if people across the country bear down on keeping their distance from one another.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, noted that “This is a number that we need to anticipate, but we don’t necessarily have to accept it as being inevitable.”

4:15 a.m.: As increasing numbers of European hospitals buckle under the strain of tens of thousands of coronavirus patients, the crisis has exposed a surprising paradox: Some of the world’s best health systems are remarkably ill-equipped to handle a pandemic.

Outbreak experts say Europe’s hospital-centric systems, lack of epidemic experience and early complacency are partly to blame for the pandemic’s catastrophic tear across the continent.

“If you have cancer, you want to be in a European hospital,” said Brice de le Vingne, who heads COVID-19 operations for Doctors Without Borders in Belgium. “But Europe hasn’t had a major outbreak in more than 100 years, and now they don’t know what to do.”

Last week, the World Health Organization scolded countries for “squandering” their chance to stop the virus from gaining a foothold, saying that countries should have reacted more aggressively two months ago, including implementing wider testing and stronger surveillance measures.

De le Vingne and others say Europe’s approach to combating the new coronavirus was initially too lax and severely lacking in epidemiological basics like contact tracing, an arduous process where health officials physically track down people who have come into contact with those infected to monitor how and where the virus is spreading.

During outbreaks of Ebola, including Congo’s most recent one, officials released daily figures for how many contacts were followed, even in remote villages paralyzed by armed attacks.

4:01 a.m.: There are 8,591 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

Quebec: 4,162 confirmed (including 31 deaths, 1 resolved)

Ontario: 1,966 confirmed (including 33 deaths, 534 resolved)

British Columbia: 1,013 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 507 resolved)

Alberta: 754 confirmed (including 9 deaths, 120 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 184 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 21 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 152 confirmed (including 1 death, 7 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 147 confirmed (including 10 resolved)

Manitoba: 91 confirmed (including 1 death, 4 resolved), 12 presumptive

New Brunswick: 70 confirmed (including 9 resolved)

Prince Edward Island: 21 confirmed (including 1 resolved)

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

Yukon: 5 confirmed

Northwest Territories: 1 confirmed

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 8,591 (12 presumptive, 8,579 confirmed including 101 deaths, 1,214 resolved)

2:44 a.m.: A senior Saudi official urged more than 1 million Muslims intending to perform the hajj to delay making plans this year — comments suggesting the pilgrimage could be cancelled due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

In February, the kingdom took the extraordinary decision to close off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to foreigners over the virus, a step which wasn’t taken even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide.

2:07 a.m.: As the number of coronavirus deaths continues to surge in the U.S., officials are warning the disease could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans, even if people continue to stay home and limit their contact with others.

Experts made the prediction at a Tuesday media briefing with President Donald Trump. But they said they hope the figure won’t soar that high if everyone does their part to prevent the virus from spreading.

1:34 a.m.: China’s National Health Commission on Wednesday reported 36 new COVID-19 cases, one day after announcing that asymptomatic cases will now be included in the official count.

The commission said all but one of the new cases was imported from abroad, while seven more deaths from the disease had been reported over the previous 24 hours. The commission did not say if any of the new cases were asymptomatic but on Tuesday reported that, of a total of 1,541 asymptomatic cases now being isolated and monitored for symptoms, 205 had come from overseas.

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