P.E.I. reports 1st coronavirus diagnoses in months as Canadian caseload rises by 227

Provincial governments reported 227 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, including three on P.E.I., where COVID-19 had not been diagnosed since late April.

Across Canada, the latest figures show 105,297 people have tested positive for the virus, though more than 68,000 have recovered. The number of tests administered has surpassed three million, with roughly half of those in Ontario.

Saturday’s numbers, however, provide a limited snapshot since a growing number of regions — including Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C. and the territories — are not releasing fresh data on the weekends.

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Eleven additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 were announced, all in the hardest-hit provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The national death toll stands at 8,674.

Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said in a statement on Saturday that only about one per cent of the tests completed across the country in the last week came back positive.

Though daily numbers of cases and deaths have sharply declined since the peak of the virus, officials have stressed continued vigilance. They have warned the public of a possible second wave of the virus as provinces relax restrictions and gradually return to normal.

P.E.I.’s top health officer said that the new cases announced on Saturday were not connected to the province’s recently relaxed travel restrictions. The four Atlantic provinces entered into a travel “bubble” on July 3.

The three new cases bring the province’s cumulative total to 30.

One of those affected works at a Charlottetown seniors home, where staff and residents are currently being tested.

Ontario added 121 new cases, along with five additional deaths, on Saturday.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, 35,656 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed and 31,083 individuals have recovered. Overall, there have been 2,687 deaths in Ontario.

In Quebec, 102 people were newly diagnosed and six deaths were reported. Three of those fatalities occurred prior to June 26, provincial officials said. The new data brings the provincial death toll to 5,566. More than 25,000 of the 55,784 people diagnosed with the virus have recuperated.

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Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and New Brunswick added no additional cases on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said the number of coronavirus cases around the globe grew by 212,000. It was the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.

Globally, more than 11 million people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 527,000 have succumbed to COVID-19.

—With files from Graeme Benjamin, Global News, and The Associated Press