Canada adds 338 new coronavirus cases as global total approaches 22 million

Another 338 new cases of the novel coronavirus Monday brought Canada close to 123,000 total infections since the pandemic began.

Monday also saw additional data from provinces that took the weekend off from reporting, while adding six new deaths to the country’s death toll — nearly all of which occurred over the past three days.

To date, Canada has now seen 122,815 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, which has killed a total of 9,032 people. Nearly 109,000 patients are considered to be recovered.

Nova Scotia was the only Atlantic province to report any new cases Monday, announcing a single new infection, bringing its total to 1,075. There are now a total of 26 active cases spread across all four eastern-most provinces.

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Quebec saw 55 new cases and added a new death that had occurred some time last week. The province has now seen 61,206 confirmed cases to date, with 5,721 deaths.

In Ontario, 99 new cases took the province’s total to 40,745, while no new deaths to report kept that number at 2,789.

Saskatchewan reported just one new case for the first time in over a month, for a total of 1,581. Twenty-two people have died in the province to date.

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Manitoba tied Sunday’s daily total with 38 new cases, continuing a worrying trend of escalating daily counts in a province that was once reporting single-digit totals. There have now been 731 confirmed or probable cases, with nine death to date.

Alberta reported 96 new cases Monday, part of a three-day total of 359 infections confirmed over the weekend. Three new deaths were also reported since Friday, bringing the death toll to 224 out of a total of 12,412 cases.

In British Columbia, 48 new cases were reported among a total of 236 from the past three days, along with two new deaths. While that number was refreshingly low, the totals for Friday and Saturday were among the highest ever for the province, which has now seen 4,537 lab-confirmed cases and 198 deaths. A further 57 cases are “epidemiologically linked” and have not been confirmed by laboratory tests.

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None of the three territories reported cases Monday. Nunavut remains the only jurisdiction untouched by COVID-19.

While Monday’s total was relatively low and kept Canada’s curve flat, the latest data now shows Friday was the worst day for new cases in nearly a month, particularly after British Columbia reported 100 confirmed infections — one of its highest-ever daily case counts.

B.C. and Manitoba are the only two provinces currently showing steep spikes in new cases, although Alberta is escalating at a steady pace and Saskatchewan is recovering from its own recent surge in fits and starts. Meanwhile, Ontario and Quebec — the worst hit provinces, which were both once reporting hundreds of new cases daily — have relatively flatlined.

The new pandemic patterns come amid a new Angus Reid survey released Monday that suggests one in five Canadians are doing little to curb the spread of the virus.

Health officials have laid much of the blame for escalating cases on young people ignoring physical distancing guidelines and limits on indoor gatherings. In B.C., for example, a majority of cases reported over the past two weeks and beyond are young people.

The global total of confirmed coronavirus cases, meanwhile, is quickly approaching 22 million, while over 772,000 people have died, according to public health data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The United States continues to lead the world with over 5.4 million cases and more than 170,000 deaths. Brazil and India have just over 6 million cases between them, and are the second- and third-most infected countries, respectively.

Experts say the true number of cases could be up to 10 times higher than the official count suggests.