Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Saturday

The latest:

• Montreal woman says mother with dementia accidentally given Pfizer vaccine after receiving dose of Moderna.
• P.E.I. to ease some COVID-19 restrictions.
• Ontarioexpandsits blitz of big box store inspections.
• Spartan Bioscience says Health Canada approves rapidtest.
• Canada's COVID-19 case numbers show early positive signs.
• Trackingthe coronavirus:Where is the pandemic getting better or worse?
• Do you have a tip or question about the pandemic? Email us at COVID@cbc.ca

Canada's chief public health officer called for "stringent and consistent efforts" to continue the country's recent downward trend in new COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Theresa Tam said in a statement on Saturday that although recent national-level data indicates a slight decrease in new infections, vigilance is needed to further push the numbers down in order to relieve pressure on strained hospital systems and "buy time" for vaccines to take effect.

"This will not only prevent more tragic outcomes, but will help to ensure that new virus variants of concern do not have the opportunity to spread," Tam said.

"Unless we continue the hard work to suppress COVID-19 activity across Canada, there is a risk that more transmissible virus variants could take hold or even replace less transmissible variants, which could result in a significant and difficult to control acceleration of spread," she added.

WATCH |CBC medical contributor answers your COVID-19 questions:

CBC medical contributor answers your COVID-19 questions

4 years ago

Duration 9:28

The CBC's John Northcott puts your coronavirus-related questions to family physician and CBC medical contributor Dr. Peter Lin.

New variants of the virus have been popping up across the country, including inan outbreak at a Barrie, Ont., long-term care home that has infected nearly all of its residents.

Genome sequencing has confirmed that avariant of the coronavirus first detected in the U.K.is present at Roberta Place Long Term Care, according to the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.

Officials say 127 of the home's 129 residents have tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, 84 staff members have contracted thevirus and 32 people have died.

What's happening across Canada

As of 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Canada had reported 742,531cases of COVID-19, with64,572 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 18,974.

In British Columbia, 20 people in custody at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlamhave tested positive for COVID-19.The Fraser Health authority announced the outbreak on Friday and said it isworking to identify others whomay have had contact with those who tested positive at the jail.

Alberta saw 573 new COVID-19 cases and 13 additional deaths on Saturday.

Saskatchewan recorded274 new COVID-19 cases and three new deaths.

WATCH |Health Canada approves Canadian-made rapid COVID-19 testing system:

Health Canada approves Canadian-made rapid COVID-19 testing system

4 years ago

Duration 3:12

Canada's health authority approved Spartan Bioscience's rapid COVID-19 testing system.

Manitoba announced216new casesand three more deaths.The latest update comes on the daystrict restrictionsfor much of the province eased, following recent drops in case numbers.

Ontario reported2,359 newCOVID-19 cases and 52 more deaths.The figures comeas the Ontario government expandsits blitz of big box store inspections to Ottawa,Windsor, Niagara Region and Durham Regionthis weekend.

In Middlesex-London, health officials say a teen staff worker at a long-term care home has died of COVID-19. Officials did not release the name or exact age of the victimbut said the worker is the youngest person in the region to have died from the coronavirus so far.

WATCH |Teenage Long-Term Care Worker dies of COVID-19:

Quebecregistered1,685 new case and 76 additionaldeaths. The deaths were registered on various days between Jan. 16 andJan. 21.

New Brunswick reported 17 new cases on Saturday.The Edmundston region in the northwest will go intolockdownon Saturday at midnight amid climbing case numbers and a series of outbreaks.

Nova Scotiasawno new cases.On Friday, Premier Stephen McNeil said almost all of the province's public health restrictions will remainuntil at least Feb. 7, butsome restrictions in sports, arts and culture will be easedstarting Monday.

Newfoundland and Labradoralso reported no new cases after seeing one new case on Friday; one person remains in hospitalin the provincedue to COVID-19.

In Prince Edward Island, larger organized gatherings and later hours for bars and restaurantsare now allowed as the provinceeasessome of its COVID-19 restrictions.

Nunavut announced a second active case in the hard-hit community ofArviat. The new case comes a day after the territory confirmed its first new infection since Dec. 28.

What's happening around the world

As of Saturday, more than 98.4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 54.3million of the cases considered resolved or recovered, according to the coronavirus tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.1 million.

In Asia, thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked down in their homes on Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the city.

In Europe, the Norwegian capital of Oslo, and nine other municipalities,have been placed under strict restrictions to contain the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus first detected in the U.K.

In the Americas, the governor of Brazil's Amazonas state has announced tough new lockdown measures to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases that has overwhelmed local hospitals.

In Africa, Morocco received twomillion doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, becoming the first African country to get a large enough shipment to roll out a nationwide immunization program.