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.

Canada's public health chief says hospitals should not throw away used masks and other protective equipment because experts are looking to see if they can be disinfected and reused. Dr. Theresa Tam says protecting health care workers is one of her top priorities in the COVID-19 pandemic. She says there is work underway looking for the best science that can be used to decontaminate used masks and other equipment.

Another 25 people in Ontario have died after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the provincial death toll for the virus to 119. The fatalities come as the overall known caseload jumped past the 4,000 mark with more than 400 new ones reported. More than 150 people were on ventilators. More than three dozen outbreaks have been reported in nursing homes across the province. The frail elderly are at particular risk for coronavirus, which can produce no or mild symptoms, but can also cause lethal pneumonia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced details for a cash payment for Canadians out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit will be accepted starting Monday, offering Canadians who have lost their jobs because of the crisis $2,000 a month. Trudeau says it will take three to five days for the money to arrive by direct deposit or 10 days by mail.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is extending the closure of non-essential businesses in the province to May 4. Legault says COVID-19 is still on an upward slope in Quebec and it would be unrealistic to keep to the original April 13 end date. The premier announced there were 19 new deaths in Quebec, for a total of 94, and 947 new cases for a total of 7,944. He says he hopes the number of new cases in the province will peak in the coming weeks.

The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador says he's furious with U.S. President Donald Trump for suggesting the country could ban exports of medical supplies to Canada. Dwight Ball told a news conference today that the province gained international acclaim for the way its residents helped thousands of stranded airline passengers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. Ball says that when the United States was in crisis, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians ``acted fast and did what was necessary.'' The premier said even though he was ``infuriated'' with Trump's actions, he i