Canada's chief public health officer says ``things have been a little flat'' this week on the COVID-19 epidemic curve, and acknowledges it is making everyone excited about when we are going to be able to get out of our houses. Dr. Theresa Tam cautions that there are still significant challenges in some settings, including long-term care homes.

Ontario is reporting 459 new COVID-19 cases today, and 86 more deaths, the largest daily death toll so far. The province has now seen 16,187 cases, an increase of 2.9 per cent over the previous day. The total includes 1,082 deaths and 10,205 resolved cases. In the previous day there were 12,928 tests completed, despite a pledge from the province to reach 14,000 tests a day by then.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the province should expect the COVID-19 deaths in the province's care homes to continue over the next days and weeks as seriously-ill people succumb to the illness. There were 98 new deaths since yesterday, for a total of 1,859, and Legault said 92 occurred in care homes. There were also 944 new cases for a new total of 27,538. Legault said there are concerning situations at three hospitals in the Montreal area, as well as the north-end neighbourhood of Montreal-Nord.

A suspect has been arrested for the violent assault of a woman as she rode the SkyTrain last Saturday from Waterfront Station in Vancouver. Transit police say a man approached the woman and yelled that she was the person who was making his daughter sick before he punched her several times. Vancouver police responded to a call yesterday from someone who said they recognized the man in photos distributed by transit police. A 51 year old man of no-fixed address has been arrested and charges of charges of assault, theft and mischief have been recommended.

Parliament's budget watchdog says that it's likely the federal deficit for the year will hit $252.1 billion as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.The figure is an estimate based on the almost $146 billion in spending measures the government has announced to help cushion the economic blow from the pandemic, estimated declines in the country's gross domestic product, and the price of oil remaining well below previous expectations.Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux's report assumes real GDP will contract by 12 per cent this year, and help shoot the federal debt-to-GDP ratio to 48.4 percent.T

A Nova Scotia man says his daughter Abbigail Cowbrough is one of the victims of the Canadian military helicopter crash in the Mediterranean. Shane Cowbrough posted a message on Facebook this morning saying his daughter died when the Cyclone helicopter went down in the sea on Wednesday during a NATO training exercise. A Baptist church in Dartmouth, N.S., followed, saying the church family had lost ``a wonderful woman'' who played the bagpipes at a Remembrance Day service last fall. Cyclone helicopters carry a crew of four, including two pilots, a tactical operator and a sensor operator, with s

There are 51,596 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 26,594 confirmed (including 1,761 deaths, 6,048 resolved) Ontario: 15,728 confirmed (including 996 deaths, 9,612 resolved) Alberta: 5,165 confirmed (including 87 deaths, 1,953 resolved) British Columbia: 2,087 confirmed (including 109 deaths, 1,305 resolved) Nova Scotia: 935 confirmed (including 28 deaths, 529 resolved) Saskatchewan: 383 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 291 resolved) Manitoba: 262 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 209 resolved), 10 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 258 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 225 resol

The RCMP say they've arrested two people after recovering $33,000 worth of government-issued cheques that were allegedly stolen from several places in British Columbia's Lower Mainland. The Mounties in Surrey say the cheques include Canada Emergency Response Benefits, GST cheques and income tax refunds, in addition to cheques issued by other organizations. They were recovered by the RCMP's COVID-19 compliance and enforcement team, which conducts patrols to educate people about and prevent contraventions of public health safety orders. The Mounties say in a statement they recovered the cheques

Vancouver police say they safely detonated a suspected improvised explosive device found in a vehicle in the Downtown East Side. Police say officers found the device during a search of the vehicle after they spotted fentanyl in plain view during a traffic stop last night. Sergeant Aaron Roed says officers secured the area to protect the public and then used a specialized robot and other tools to properly disable and dispose of the device. A 25 year old Surrey resident was arrested for unauthorized possession of an explosive device but has been released with no charges at this time.