Nova Scotia is reporting four more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 16. Health officials say three of the deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax Regional Municipality, and the other occurred at Harbourstone Enhanced Care in Sydney. Nova Scotia is reporting 55 new cases of the virus and has a total of 827 confirmed cases. There are 10 licensed long-term care homes and unlicensed seniors' facilities in Nova Scotia with cases of COVID-19, involving 158 residents and 79 staff.

Police say they are investigating the discovery of a dead infant in a portable public toilet in Vancouver. A statement from the police department says the remains were found Wednesday on the city's Downtown Eastside. Const. Tania Visintin says officers were called to the area at around 6 p.m. She says it was obvious to responding officers that the baby was deceased. Visintin says there's concern for the physical and mental well-being of the mother and police are searching for her. She says the discovery was a ``extremely tragic.''

Ontario is reporting 634 new cases of COVID-19 today and 54 more deaths. That brings the total number of cases in the province to 12,879, a 5.2 per cent increase over Wednesday. The total includes 713 deaths and 6,680 cases that have been resolved.

Quebec is reporting 109 new COVID-19 deaths today, bringing the total to 1,243. There are now a total of 21,838 positive cases in the province, including 873 reported over the last 24 hours. Premier Francois Legault says a big concern is finding health-care personnel as 9,500 staff are off the job due to illness or other reasons. He's asking all workers who are not in quarantine and able to return to work to do so.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will spend more than $1 billion to help develop, test and manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as to determine how widely the virus has spread through Canada. The cash announced today is on top of $275 million in research funding the Liberals announced in March at the outset of the pandemic. Most of the new money is aimed at funding vaccine development and clinical trials, including $600 million over two years through a federal innovation fund that the government says could help the country's biomanufacturing sector. Smaller amounts

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough says that international students will not be eligible to apply under the newly announced Canada Emergency Students Benefit program. In an exclusive interview on Sver Wala Show on Connect FM this morning, Minister Qualtrough revealed that international students can now work up to 40 hours per week to make ends meet until the end of August. She said that the legislation is still being finalised and did not deny that international students may be included in the final draft that gets passed. About the timelin

An evacuation alert has been issued for people who live in a small village in central British Columbia as flood water levels rise.Wendy Coomber, communications director for the Cache Creek Emergency Operation Centre, says about 400 people in 160 residences along the Bonaparte River have been told they may have to leave on short notice.She says people in at least 10 properties were evacuated Wednesday, including two motels and one campground.Coomber says there are other properties along the river that are not yet included in the alert but that could change depending on water levels.Cache Creek

As many as 71 Delhi Police personnel were on Wednesday directed to be in quarantine after they came in contact with a head constable who tested positive for COVID19, police said. The head constable was posted with Delhi Police Special Cell.Earlier, on April 21 three police personnel posted in the Nabi Karim area of the national capital tested positive for COVID-19. As per the Union Health Ministry, 2,248 people in Delhi have tested positive for COVID-19, including 47 deaths. 611 persons have been cured in the national capital. The number of COVID-19 cases in India reached 20,471 on Wednesday,

Premier John Horgan says he wants to make sure the province isn't getting ahead of itself before any decisions are made about lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Horgan told reporters after a cabinet meeting that the public can expect an announcement before the middle of May about how the province will start to open up. But he says his government will be guided by science to ensure an early start doesn't jeopardize successes in containing the virus. Horgan says two recent outbreaks at the federal prison in Mission and a Vancouver poultry processing plant are a warning that people can't be complace