Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on May 30

The latest:

• Why experts say 2nd vaccine doses should be rolled out now.
• Health Canada extends expiry date for AstraZeneca doses.
• N.L. moves some regions to Alert Level 4 amid cluster of cases.
• Manitoba admits record 17 patients to ICUs in the past 24 hours.
• Ontario's top doctor retiring, to be replaced by Dr. Kieran Moore.
• More Canadians turning to cannabis to help deal with pandemic pressures.
• Your guide to reopenings: What you can do — and when — in each province.
• Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email: Covid@cbc.ca.

Saskatchewan begins the first of its three-step plan to reopen on Sunday, easing some measures enacted to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Under the first step, up to 10 people are allowed at indoor and outdoor private gatherings. In addition, outdoor sports and indoor fitness classes can resume.

Bars and restaurants will be allowed to have six people at a table, up from the current maximum of four, provided those tables are separated by either two metres or a structural barrier. The rules become more relaxed in Step 2, set to begin on June 20.

The province reported 171 new COVID-19 cases and one related death on Sunday. Hospitalizations also dropped to 109, the lowest total since November of last year.

What's happening across Canada

As of 5:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, Canada had reported 1,378,680 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 35,644 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 25,512.

Alberta recorded 391 new COVID-19 cases and five additional deaths on Sunday.

The province announced more than 60 per cent of eligible Albertans had received their first dose on Friday, a benchmark paving the way for Stage 2 of reopening as early as June 10. That move would be conditional on hospitalizations being below 500 and decreasing, however.

The relaxation of public health orders under Stage 2 would see theatres, cinemas, museums and galleries reopen at a third of capacity and restaurants allowed to seat up to six people indoors from different households. Outdoor social gatherings of up to 20 people would be permitted while concerts and festivals could go ahead with up to 150 people.

WATCH | Alberta will reopen in three stages, says premier:

Alberta will reopen in three stages, says premier

1 year ago

Duration 2:22

Alberta’s three-stage plan for reopening plan could see all COVID-19 restrictions lifted by the end of June. Asked if that was too fast, Premier Jason Kenney had this to say.

Manitoba identified 292 new cases and seven more deaths. The province also admitted 17 patients to intensive care units in the past 24 hours — marking an "unfortunate milestone" and record high in the province's pandemic response, a Shared Health spokesperson said.

Ontario registered 1,033 new cases and 18 new deaths.

Meanwhile, the provincial government says it will replace Dr. David Williams as chief medical officer of health, as Williams plans to retire in June. Williams, who was set to retire months ago but delayed the move because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has held the position for five years.

He will be replaced by Dr. Kieran Moore, currently the medical officer of health for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health. Moore is expected to step into the role on June 26.

Quebec confirmed 315 new cases and two more deaths on Sunday.

New Brunswick logged nine new cases. Health officials also announced that more than 62 per cent of residents over the age of 12 in the province have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Nova Scotia reported one death and 20 new cases on Sunday — the lowest number of new infections in more than a month.

With new daily cases on a downward trend and, as of Friday, 53 per cent of Nova Scotians having received at least one vaccine dose, the province will begin the first phase of a four-phase reopening plan on Wednesday.

WATCH | Reopening plan 'based on data and not dates,' says N.S. premier:

'This plan is based on data and not dates' | Iain Rankin

1 year ago

Duration 7:52

Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin joins Power & Politics to discuss his province's phased-in reopening plan, which is set to start on June 2.

Newfoundland and Labrador is moving communities in the Stephenville area and on the Port au Port Peninsula to Alert Level 4 in response to a cluster of cases in the western part of the province.

The increased public health measures will come into effect at 4 p.m. Sunday, as 11 cases have now been tied to the cluster. There are also three presumptive positive cases.

What's happening around the world

As of Sunday, more than 170 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a database from Johns Hopkins University in the United States. The reported global death toll stood at more than 3.5 million.

In the Americas, two-thirds of adults in the the U.S. state of New York have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as hospitalizations statewide continue to decline.

WATCH | Waking up to easing restrictions in the city that never sleeps:

Waking up to easing restrictions in the city that never sleeps

1 year ago

Duration 0:59

As New York City gets set to lift some COVID-19 restrictions next week, residents and visitors look forward to returning to some semblance of normal, pre-pandemic life in the bustling metropolis.

In Europe, the U.K. vaccine minister says the government may require National Health Service workers to be inoculated against COVID-19 in hopes of preventing medical workers from spreading the coronavirus to their patients.

In Asia, Myanmar's COVID-19 testing has dropped dramatically and hospital workers are spread thin in the wake of February's military coup, as doctors and nurses who joined strikes and protests against the junta are being arrested in large numbers.

In Africa, South Africa has extended its nightly curfew and limited the number of people at gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19 as positive cases surge, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.