The country's medical officers of health are at work setting criteria that from a health perspective could provide guidance on when physical distancing restrictions can ease up. Several provinces are now considering loosening their lockdowns. Chief Public Health Officer Teresa Tam says criteria that might be included are the rate of hospitalizations, new cases being reported daily and how the virus appears to be reproducing. She says the special advisory committee on COVID-19 is actively at work on the details of that guidance now.

Ontario is reporting 510 new cases of COVID-19 today and 37 more deaths. That brings the total number of cases in the province to 12,245, a 4.3 per cent increase over Tuesday, which is the lowest growth rate in weeks. The total also includes 659 deaths and 6,221 cases that have been resolved, which puts the percentage of resolved cases over 50 per cent for the first time.

Nova Scotia is reporting two more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the province's total to 12. The deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax. The province is also reporting 35 new cases of the virus bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 772. It says 10 licensed long-term care homes and unlicensed seniors' facilities in Nova Scotia are dealing with cases of COVID-19, involving 148 residents and 65 staff.

Premier Francois Legault is asking the federal government for 1,000 Canadian Armed Forces members to help in the province's struggling long-term care homes. Despite extensive recruitment efforts, Legault says he was only able to fill half the 2,000 positions needed to overcome a staffing shortfall rendered critical by COVID-19. The Canadian Armed Forces have already committed about 130 medically-trained staff and personnel members to help in care homes, but Legault said the additional people he's requesting won't necessarily have medical qualifications but can help with general tasks. The pro

Surrey RCMP say they have received multiple reports recently of sextortion attempts.Police say most reports were from people who received an email claiming their computer had been hacked and video had been taken of them performing an explicit act.The Mounties say people were told the material would be made public if a fee was not paid using Bitcoin but there is no proof any videos were actually taken.They say fraudsters often cite a current or former password as proof of the hack but people should ignore such emails because the information was likely obtained in a previous data breach.

Police are releasing more details about a British Columbia woman they fear may be the victim of a homicide. Metro Vancouver's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 45 year old April Parisian was last heard from on March 28 and was declared missing earlier this month.The resident of the Fraser Canyon community of Spuzzum owned a red, 1998 Chevrolet pickup with a camper and may have been with her boyfriend, Paris Margesson, and her brown pug dog. On April 16, police appealed for help and received a tip just hours later that the camper was in the Abbotsford area.Officers tried to speak to a

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unveiling a $9 billion emergency program aimed at students. It includes a Canada Emergency Student Benefit worth at least $1250 a month from May to August. The benefit can be accessed by those in post-secondary school now, headed to post secondary school in September or anyone who graduated after December 2019.The government is also creating 76,000 job placements for young people in sectors currently dealing with labour shortages.

There are 38,422 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 20,126 confirmed (including 1,041 deaths, 4,048 resolved) Ontario: 11,735 confirmed (including 622 deaths, 5,806 resolved) Alberta: 3,095 confirmed (including 61 deaths, 1,273 resolved) British Columbia: 1,724 confirmed (including 87 deaths, 1,041 resolved) Nova Scotia: 737 confirmed (including 10 deaths, 286 resolved) Saskatchewan: 320 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 252 resolved) Newfoundland and Labrador: 257 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 194 resolved) Manitoba: 246 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 150 resolved), 9 presumpti

A Halifax area man impersonating an RCMP officer killed 22 people, including a 17 year old, with bodies found in five Nova Scotia communities. RCMP confirm the murders began in Portapique. They say when police arrived they discovered several casualties inside and outside of a home. Police say they are working at 16 specific locations to gather evidence and learn more about what happened. The violence began Saturday night and ended at around noon on Sunday when police shot and killed 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman.