The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
11:40 a.m.
Small Business Minister Mary Ng says Ottawa is committing $12 million to a fund to help small business owners respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The money is to be made available through the Canada United Small Business Resilience Fund.
It will help small business owners buy personal protective equipment, renovate their spaces to respond to local public health measures and boost their ability to sell things online.
Ng also encouraged everyone to download the COVID-19 Alert app to help them learn if they have been exposed to the novel coronavirus.
Ng says she took a COVID-19 test and received a negative result after being notified of an exposure through the app.
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11:35 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 877 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health officials are also reporting a jump in hospitalizations of 33, for a total of 565, with 100 people in intensive care, a rise of eight.
The province said today five people died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours while seven deaths occurred between Oct. 13 and 18.
Quebec has reported a total of 95,216 cases of COVID-19 and 6,055 deaths attributed to the virus since the start of the pandemic.
Authorities say one death previously attributed to COVID-19 was unrelated while 90 cases had been incorrectly labelled as positive.
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11:05 a.m.
Ontario is reporting 821 new cases of COVID-19 today, and three new deaths due to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 327 cases are in Toronto, 136 in Peel Region, 79 in Ottawa, and 64 in York Region.
The province says it has a backlog of 24,129 tests, and has conducted 24,049 tests since the last daily report.
In total, 274 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19.
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11 a.m.
Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19.
Dr. Heather Morrison, the chief public health officer, says the case involves a woman in her 20s who is a rotational worker and who travelled outside of the Atlantic bubble.
There are currently three active cases on the Island.
Since the pandemic began, P.E.I. has seen a total of 64 cases and all have been travel related.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2020.
The Canadian Press
