Canada sees fewer than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for first time since March

Canada reported fewer than 1,000 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday, marking the first time in nearly two months the daily increase was in the triple digits.

Six provinces saw a combined 937 new tests come back positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. To date, 86,636 cases have been confirmed — 45,352 of whom have since recovered.

Another 94 patients have died from the disease since Monday, provincial health officials confirmed. Canada’s death toll now stands at 6,639 people.

Tuesday’s increase in cases is the lowest for the country since March 29, when 721 new cases were reported. The next day, 1,118 tests were confirmed positive, and each day until now has seen over a thousand new cases.

The majority of Tuesday’s cases once again came from Quebec and Ontario, which reported 614 and 287 new cases, respectively. Quebec also saw 70 more deaths from COVID-19, while 21 people have died in Ontario since Monday.

Ontario’s number of new cases was the lowest for the province since March 31, while Quebec saw a slight increase that still continued an overall trend downward for infections.

Nova Scotia announced two new cases and an additional death, bringing its death toll to 59 and its case count to 1,052. A single new case was reported in New Brunswick, where only one additional case is active.

While Saskatchewan and Manitoba did not report any new cases Tuesday, Saskatchewan reported its eighth death connected to the virus.

Alberta saw 22 new infections and another death, while British Columbia reported 11 new cases and no additional deaths.

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Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut continued their weeks-long trend of reporting no new cases or deaths. Nunavut remains the only jurisdiction in Canada with no confirmed cases.

While provinces and territories continue moving towards reopening, attention has turned to obtaining masks and other equipment to ensure residents and businesses are protected from a potential second wave of the virus.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that the federal government has contracted General Motors to produce 10 million face masks.

The conditions inside long-term care homes — where residents and staff have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic — are now under the microscope in Ontario, where military members sent to help have raised troubling concerns.

Those members have observed shocking conditions, including “blatant disregard” for infection control measures, mistreatment of residents and a level of care described as “horrible,” according to documents obtained by Global News.

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A report summarizing the military’s findings has since been released by the Ontario government, which Trudeau called “very troubling.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his government had launched a full investigation into the “appalling” and “disgusting” allegations contained in the report, and the results would be shared with police to “look into any possible criminal charges.”

Long-term care homes have also fallen under scrutiny in Quebec, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, where outbreaks have been declared in multiple facilities in each province.