Canada reported 518 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, the 10th day in a row cases across the country have topped the 500 mark.
The new infections bring Canada’s total COVID-19 cases to 136,556. Another two deaths related to the coronavirus were also announced Sunday, though Canada’s fatalities from the virus rose by one to 9,171 after a death originally attributed to the virus was removed.
As of Sunday, a total of 120,431 patients have recovered from the virus, while over 7.24 million tests have been administered.
Sunday’s data does not reflect all areas across Canada, however, as all of the territories and several provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta and P.E.I. do not release updated figures on the weekend.
Despite the limited data released, new cases of the virus across Canada have been following an upward trend over the last several weeks. There were 703 cases reported on Friday — the highest daily increase in new infections since early June.
In a statement Sunday, Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that disease activity “continues a slow and steady increase nationally” after an average of 633 cases were being reported daily across Canada over the past week — more than a 20 per cent increase over the previous week.
“Canadians have become adept at effective public health practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Tam said as she listed several measures like social distancing and wearing masks to protect against the virus.
“Our challenge now is to guard against the fatigue that can lead us to relax these personal precautions. At the same time, as we shift more of our activities indoors, we will need to increase our awareness of COVID-19 risk factors in reopened settings.”
Plans to safeguard the country against the pandemic are expected to be at the forefront of a two day federal cabinet retreat beginning Monday.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that Canadians would have “to learn how to continue to live with COVID-19 for many, many more months,” with health experts sounding the alarm over a second wave of the virus coming over the fall and winter months.
Quebec reported the highest increase in COVID-19 cases Sunday, with 279 new infections. The number brings the province’s total lab-confirmed cases to 64,986.
One new death was also reported by the province, but health authorities also removed a fatality after it was later found to unrelated to COVID-19. The death toll there remains at 5,780, while a total of 57,268 patients have since recovered.
Ontario added 204 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising its total confirmed cases to 44,504. One new death was also reported, raising its total fatalities to 2,815.
Saskatchewan announced another 17 cases of the virus on Sunday, raising its total confirmed cases to 1,726. No new deaths were reported in the province, which has seen 24 fatalities to date. A total of 1,603 patients have also recovered in the province.
Manitoba added 18 new cases on Sunday, raising its cases to 1,428. An unknown number of the province’s cases are considered probable, however. The province’s total COVID-19 fatalities stands at 16, while 1,173 patients have recovered.
New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia all reported no new cases of the virus on Sunday during their daily updates.
Globally, over 28.8 million have been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. More than 921,000 people have since succumbed to the virus worldwide, with the United States, Brazil and India leading in both cases and deaths.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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