The latest news on the COVID-19 global pandemic (all times Eastern):
1:30 p.m.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer of health reported no new cases of COVID-19 today, but one of the three presumptive cases was confirmed positive.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says 684 people in the province have been tested and 681 have been confirmed negative.
She says public health is monitoring 276 people who are in self-isolation.
12:40 p.m.
A local public health unit is reporting Ontario's second COVID-19-related death.
Halton Region Public Health says a man in his 50s died after receiving treatment at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and Milton District Hospital.
The agency says he had an underlying health condition.
Ontario reported its first COVID-19-related death earlier in the week — a 77-year-old man in the Muskoka region.
12:40 p.m.
PEI has its second confirmed case of COVID-19 in a man in his 40s.
Health officials say the man had been travelling in the United kingdom and is now self-isolating at home.
12:15 p.m.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says all asylum seekers crossing into Canada from the U.S. at Roxham Road will be temporarily housed beginning tomorrow.
Freeland says this is to ensure they are all quarantined for 14 days just as everyone else coming into Canada from the U.S. and other countries should do.
Freeland says she spoke to Quebec Justice Minister Sonia LeBel, as well as all provincial premiers, about the issue.
12:10 p.m.
The body that handles transit in British Columbia outside the Lower Mainland is eliminating fares and altering boarding procedures in two major cities in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
BC Transit says passengers in Nanaimo and Victoria will be asked to board by the rear doors and won't have to pay fares for the next 30 days
The move, similar to those enacted in several other Canadian cities, creates a greater social distance between passengers and drivers, seniors and the disabled at the front of the bus.
TransLink, which operates buses, the SeaBus and SkyTrain across Metro Vancouver has not announced similar measures but said last week that it was stepping up cleaning and disinfection across its fleet.
11:20 a.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says experts are telling his government to expect social-distancing measures to remain in place here for several weeks — or months.
He also says he spoke with leaders at Air Canada and WestJet on Wednesday about finding ways to help Canadians stranded overseas come home.
Trudeau says he also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this morning about co-ordinating efforts to help Canadians in other countries and also plans to speak to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven today.
He says the government is working with telecommunications companies to send text messages to Canadians abroad to let them known about consular services available.
11:15 a.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he expects the Canada-U.S. border to shut down for non-essential travellers sometime overnight between Friday and Saturday.
He says the federal government is still working out the details of the agreement with the United States.
11:15 a.m.
Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 14.
The total includes five confirmed cases and nine presumptive cases.
Health officials say the two new cases were identified on Wednesday and both are travel-related.
The 14 individuals affected range in age from early 30's to mid-70's.
10:50 a.m.
The government of Nunavut is asking students receiving financial assistance to study in southern institutions to stay there.
The territory is informing students it won't be booking travel home for them until further notice in order to avoid unnecessary travel and slow the spread of COVID-19.
Students who receive funding will continue to receive it for as long as they are away from home.
10:36 a.m.
Ontario is reporting 43 new COVID-19 cases today.
That brings the total cases in the province to 257, including one death and five resolved cases.
One of the new patients, a man in his 80s in Durham Region, is hospitalized.
But information on whether people are self-isolating or hospitalized, their ages and regions, as well as how they were infected, is listed as "pending" for more than half of the new cases.
8:45 a.m.
British Columbia's Municipal Affairs Ministry has cancelled three municipal byelections and a referendum in four communities around the province as part of efforts to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus.
A statement from the ministry says it has scrubbed byelections set for Victoria and Rossland on April 4, a referendum in Kamloops on the same day and a byelection slated for Lytton on April 25.
None of the votes have been rescheduled.
The ministry says public health and local government officials asked for the postponements to ensure voters don't gather in polling stations, and to free up local resources to focus on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
7:45 a.m.
The Toronto Transit Commission says one of their employees has tested positive for COVID-19.
The agency says the employee worked at a TTC maintenance workshop for buses.
It says between 130 and 170 employees are in self-isolation as a result.
The TTC says the employee worked one shift on March 11 after returning from vacation.
