Canada's top public-health doctor says masks are a way for people who might have COVID-19 without realizing it to keep from spreading the illness. Dr. Theresa Tam says the change from previous advice is due to increasing evidence that people with the virus can spread it without knowing they're sick. She says masks worn this way protect others more than they protect the people wearing them, and she stresses that medical masks still need to be preserved for front-line health workers. She adds that wearing a mask doesn't exempt people from other measures they should take against COVID-19, includ

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's confident shipments of personal protective medical gear from the U.S. will continue to arrive in Canada. He was responding to reports U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to keep U.S. made medical equipment on American soil. Trudeau says talks between the two countries are ongoing and have proven to be productive.

Politicians in southeastern British Columbia are calling on the provincial health officer to close the B.C.-Alberta border to non-essential travel. A statement on the Regional District of East Kootenay website says people are not heeding the message from health officials in both B.C. and Alberta urging everyone to stay home. The regional district also wants all non-resident property owners to stay away and it is seeking closure of all private campgrounds, overnight and backcountry camping.

Ontario is reporting 309 new COVID-19 cases, including 13 additional deaths. There have now been a total of 4,347 cases in the province, including 1,624 resolved cases. The new cases represent a 7.7 per cent increase in the past 24 hours, but the number of resolved cases jumped by more than 37 per cent.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says he has received unanimous support from other premiers for a federal credit agency to help provinces deal with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Pallister says the premiers have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking for financial help. The premier says he wants Ottawa to borrow on behalf of the provinces because the federal government gets a lower interest rate.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says 240,000 people successfully applied for emergency relief in the first few hours after Ottawa opened the process.Only people with birthdays in the first three months of the year can apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit today.The benefit offers $500-a-week payments for workers who have lost all of their income.Trudeau says changes to the program will come soon to offer help for people whose hours have been slashed but who are still working a little.

Commercial vessels and passenger ferries face more restrictions in a government effort to clamp down on the spread of the novel coronavirus. Transport Canada has ordered a stop on all non-essential vessels with a capacity of 12 or more passengers, such as recreation and tourism vessels. BC Ferries and other essential vessel operators have been told to immediately cut in half the maximum number of passengers carried on their ships. Over the weekend, BC ferries chopped its service after it said ridership was down by about 80 per cent.

Sobeys says employees at two of its Metro Vancouver stores have tested positive for COVID-19.The company says a pharmacy employee at the Safeway in King Edward Mall in Vancouver tested positive on March 31st, the last day that person worked.An employee at FreshCo at three-road and Williams in Richmond also tested positive on March 28th, and the last day that person worked was March 26th.Sobeys says when each case is reported, it deep cleans and sanitizes the store location.

Queen Elizabeth II addressed Britain, the Commonwealth and the world in a statement issued today, calling for unity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Promising ``we will meet again,'' the Queen thanked front-line workers fighting the global pandemic and encouraged people to stay home. Although the Queen addresses the Commonwealth every Christmas morning, it's only the fifth time in her 68-year reign that she has spoken specifically to rally Britons. The statement, which was under five minutes, was recorded Thursday at Windsor Castle, the Queen's main residence.