The number of newly-diagnosed coronavirus cases in Canada rose by 491 on Friday, and health authorities announced that the pandemic has claimed six more lives.
As of Friday afternoon, 116,266 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Canada. Across the country, 8,935 people have succumbed to the illness, according to figures provided by provincial governments
About 87 per cent of those infected have recovered and 4.6 million tests have been conducted.
Also on Friday, federal officials released a new app they say could aid in the fight against the spread of the virus.
The COVID Alert app notifies a user when they have been in close contact with another user who tested positive for the virus. The government describes it as an exposure notification app, not a contact-tracing app, as it does not track personal data.
“This app does not replace contact tracing — a critical public health function. Contact tracing will continue to be performed manually by local public health authorities,” the government said in a statement.
So far, the app has been released only in Ontario as it undergoes testing.
B.C. saw a significant uptick in new coronavirus cases on Friday. The province added one new death and 45-lab confirmed cases Friday, along with another five diagnoses considered epidemiologically linked.
Overall, 195 people in B.C. have died due to the coronavirus, and there are 3,609 confirmed cases, plus 32 epi-linked cases.
Alberta’s death toll grew by one on Friday, officials said. There were 127 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial total to 10,843. Overall, 196 Albertans have succumbed to COVID-19.
Saskatchewan added 14 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing its case total to 1,319. The number of people who have recovered from the infection has now surpassed 1,000. Eighteen deaths have occurred in the province in total.
In Manitoba, six new cases were announced for a total of 401 lab-confirmed infections. An additional 14 cases are considered probable. The province’s death toll is eight.
Ontario reported 134 new COVID-19 cases and three new deaths Friday. The province has seen 39,209 cases overall and 2,775 virus-related deaths.
The overall case count in Quebec rose by 181 to 59,312 on Friday, though only only 169 of those cases are newly diagnosed. The rest reflect a correction the province has made to data released on Thursday.
The death toll stands at 5,674 after one additional fatality was announced Friday.
In Atlantic Canada, only one province reported new cases — Nova Scotia. That province’s diagnoses rose by two on Friday for a total of 1,069. Sixty-four people have lost their lives to the virus.
In P.E.I., the case count stands at 36 as of the province’s latest update on Tuesday. In Newfoundland and Labrador, 266 people have been diagnosed, and three people have died. New Brunswick has seen 170 coronavirus cases overall, along with two deaths.
The territories reported no new cases as well. All but three of Yukon’s 14 confirmed cases have recovered, as of the latest update on Thursday. All five cases in the Northwest Territories have recovered, and no cases have been diagnosed in Nunavut.
Around the world, cases counts are continuing to soar. According to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University, 17.4 million people have been diagnosed and 675,545 people have succumbed to the illness.
— With files from Katie Dangerfield, Global News
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