Canada on Saturday reported 330 new cases of the novel coronavirus, plus nine additional deaths.
The new deaths, which bring Canada’s death toll from COVID-19 to 8,848, include five that had occurred before July 10 that were not previously counted.
As of July 18, Canada has 109,974 cases of the coronavirus. Close to 97,000 people — or 88.1 per cent of all confirmed virus cases — have since recovered, while over 3.6 million tests have been administered.
The numbers released on Saturday do not account for all regions across the country, with Alberta, B.C. P.E.I. and the territories not reporting new data over the weekend.
Ontario reported 166 new cases, bringing total confirmed cases in the province to 37,440. Another two deaths were also announced in the province, raising the provincial death toll to 2,748.
Quebec announced 158 new cases, including two new deaths. The province also reported five additional deaths that it said had occurred before July 10. The province remains the hardest hit from the virus, with 57,300 total cases and a death toll of 5,654.
Over 87 per cent of all cases in both those provinces have since recovered, however.
Saskatchewan also announced six new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, with total infections now standing 941. One case was also removed from the province’s reported data due to it being misidentified as positive.
Manitoba reported one new case of the virus on Saturday, but did not indicate whether it was a confirmed or probable. Excluding that case, the the provinces’s total lab-confirmed cases now sits at 325 with another 11 probable cases.
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador reported no additional cases or deaths during their coronavirus updates on Saturday.
Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said that an average of 40,000 people were tested daily over the past week, with one per cent testing positive.
“As more Canadians go out and interact with others, we expect to see new COVID-19 cases. Without a vaccine or effective treatment, Canada’s daily new case count will not drop to zero in the foreseeable future,” Njoo said in a statement.
“We are in this together and the best way to get through this will be to support each other and recognize that nobody wants to be sick and nobody wants to spread the virus in their community.”
Worldwide, the coronavirus has infected more than 14 million people, according to data released by John Hopkins University. Over 598,000 people have also died from COVID-19.
Saturday also marks the second day in a row where the world saw a record increase in new coronavirus numbers.
The World Health Organization reported a daily increase of 259,848 cases in the last 24 hours, outpacing Friday’s 237,743 new infections.
Global deaths also rose by 7,360 — the biggest single-day total increase in deaths since May 10.
— With files from Reuters