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

International students are not currently eligible for the newly announced Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), according to Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, who spoke in an exclusive interview on Connect FM’s Sver Wala Show. Qualtrough confirmed international students can work up to 40 hours per week until the end of August – a temporary relaxation of the 20-hour cap normally in place during the school year. She noted, however, that the legislation for CESB is still being finalized and did not rule out the possibility that eligibility rules could change before it passes Parliament

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

There are 40,190 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 20,965 confirmed (including 1,134 deaths, 4,291 resolved) Ontario: 12,245 confirmed (including 659 deaths, 6,221 resolved) Alberta: 3,401 confirmed (including 66 deaths, 1,310 resolved) British Columbia: 1,795 confirmed (including 90 deaths, 1,079 resolved) Nova Scotia: 772 confirmed (including 12 deaths, 338 resolved) Saskatchewan: 326 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 261 resolved) Manitoba: 246 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 154 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 256 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 199 resolv

The number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in B.C. has jumped by 71, a surge that Health Minister Adrian Dix says reflects the outbreak in workers at the United Poultry Co. Ltd. Twenty eight workers at the Vancouver plant have tested positive for COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says employers are expected to pay attention to the health of their staff, without penalizing them for calling in sick. Three more people have died in the province, all from long-term care homes, for a total death toll of 90. There have been 1,795 cases in the province, while 1,079 people have fully re

Nova Scotia RCMP says a key element of their investigation in the mass killing over the weekend is how did the gunman get an authentic Mountie uniform. Police have said the uniform along with a vehicle made to look like an RCMP cruiser allowed the shooter to escape detection. The RCMP say they have confirmed the gunman acted alone when he killed 22 people over a 12 hour period before being killed by police. But they are still looking into whether he had help leading up to the rampage.