Quebec is reporting another 1,097 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday, and 14 additional deaths linked to the pandemic, as Ontario reports 809 new cases and seven new deaths.
As new restrictions kick in to slow spread of the virus in several hot spots in Ontario, public health officials say 358 of the new cases are in Toronto, 123 are in Peel Region and 94 in Ottawa.
Quebec’s Health Department says three of the deaths occurred in the last 24 hours, seven happened between Oct. 3 and 8, and four occurred earlier.
Quebec has reported more than 1,000 new cases for six of the last seven days.
Hospitalizations increased by 11 to 444, and six more people are in intensive care, for a total of 73.
Tighter restrictions to curb the surge of infections in Toronto, Ottawa and Peel took effect Saturday after Ontario saw a record high of 939 new cases on Friday.
Those areas have consistently reported the majority of new cases in recent weeks.
The government says it has a backlog of 56,138 tests, and has conducted 44,298 tests since the last daily report.
In total, 213 people are hospitalized in Ontario because of COVID-19, 47 people are in intensive care and 29 are on ventilators.
Quebec has now reported a total of 85,191 cases and 5,950 deaths since the pandemic began.
In a Facebook post, Premier Francois Legault urged Quebecers to take care of their mental health, noting that many people may be feeling scared or anxious during a second wave.
Manitoba health officials are reporting two more deaths from COVID-19, as well as nearly 100 new cases.
The province says in its daily pandemic update on Saturday that two women in Winnipeg — one in her 80s and another in her 90s — have died since the last update. The government says there were 97 new cases as of Saturday morning, 74 of which were from the Winnipeg health region.
On the east coast, there are 20 new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick, bringing the province’s total number of active cases to 57.
The province is also reporting its second school-related case at Académie Notre-Dame in Dalhousie, in the Campbellton region.
At a news conference on Saturday, Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said the news was not what anyone hopes for at the beginning of a Thanksgiving long weekend.
“This long weekend might not be what we planned, but I encourage you to take a moment and be thankful for all that we have,” Russell said.
“And if you know people who are working in essential services or health-care settings or public health … please offer them your support.”