Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is spending $130 million to help communities in the North withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half the money is being sent to the three territorial governments for their health and social services. But millions of dollars will support airlines that serve the North and subsidy programs to defray the cost of food and hygiene products that are expensive to ship.

Prince Edward Island is not reporting any new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, leaving the provincial total at 25 cases. Chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says 23 of those cases are considered recovered. Modelling released Tuesday shows the province could have up to nine deaths from the pandemic by June 1, but that could have been 900 if the province hadn't taken the public health measures it did.

The country's chief public health officer says COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes are the most pressing epidemic problem facing the nation. Dr. Theresa Tam says in all, Canada had seen nearly 27,000 confirmed and presumptive cases of coronavirus disease, more than 800 of them fatal, and nearly half of the deaths have been in long term care facilities. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all levels of government need to do what they can to stop the spread of the virus among seniors. Meantime, just as BC has done, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a new measure to limit care worker

A seniors' home in Toronto says a total of 25 residents have died from COVID-19. Eatonville Care Centre, in the city's west end, says the number has jumped due to new Toronto Public Health reporting guidelines. Executive director Evelyn MacDonald says the deaths of nine residents due to unknown causes can now be attributed to COVID-19. MacDonald says there are 49 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the home with six more test results are pending.

Ontario says there are 483 new COVID-19 cases today and 43 new deaths. That brings the province to a total of 7,953 cases, including 334 deaths and 3,568 cases that have been resolved. It's an increase of 6.5 per cent over yesterday's total, continuing a relatively low growth rate over the past several days.

Quebec has recorded another 75 deaths connected to COVID-19, bringing the total to 435. Premier Francois Legault says the province now has a total of 14,248 confirmed cases, an increase of 691. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has risen to 936, and of those 230 are in intensive care, an increase of four from Monday. Legault says the biggest problem is in the province's understaffed long-term care centres, and he issued an appeal for any health-care workers to step forward to help.

Starting at midnight, the federal government says all people returning to Canada will have to check in to a hotel or other designated site unless they have an acceptable self-quarantine plan.The government says returnees whether they have COVID-19 symptoms or not must have an appropriate isolation plan that includes access to food and medicine.They will also be forbidden to live with vulnerable people, such as anyone older than 65 or with pre-existing health conditions.If a returnee lacks a credible plan, they will need to quarantine in a location, such as a hotel, designated by Canada's chie

The federal government is providing $50 million to help farmers and food processors cover the costs associated with mandatory quarantine rules for workers coming in from outside the country.Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says the labour shortage on farms is acute and depends on foreign temporary workers.But rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 mean this year's incoming workers must quarantine for 14 days.Bibeau says employers are committed to making sure workers follow those rules but they do come at a cost.She says the money is designed to help offset those and w

Health Canada has approved the use of a portable, rapid-testing device for COVID-19.The Spartan Cube from Ottawa's Spartan Bioscience is expected to help provide rapid tests for health services in rural and remote areas such as Indigenous communities.The hand-held device, about the size of a coffee cup, eliminates the need for swab samples to travel to the nearest lab, which can be a logistical challenge.The federal, Alberta and Ontario governments are among those who have contracts for the testing kits, which can confirm results in less than one hour.Ontario has ordered nearly 1 million test