Canada diagnosed 817 more people with the novel coronavirus on Monday, bringing the country’s total case count close to 138,000.
Monday’s count was the highest daily case total since late May, when infections were steadily falling from the peak of the pandemic.
Provincial and territorial health authorities also reported another eight people had died from the virus since Friday. A majority of the new deaths were reported in British Columbia and Alberta, both of which took the weekend off from reporting data.
Since the pandemic began, 9,179 people have died, while 121,224 have recovered from the virus after falling ill. To date, over 7.3 million COVID-19 tests have been administered across the country.
In Ontario, 313 new cases of the respiratory illness were reported for a total of 44,817, while health authorities said there was one new death since Sunday. So far, 2,816 in the province have died from the virus.
More than 3.3 million tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in Ontario, and 39,974 people have recovered from the virus.
Quebec, the province hit hardest by the novel coronavirus, recorded 276 new infections, bringing the provincial case tally to 65,262.
No new deaths were reported, keeping the death toll at 5,780. So far, 57,428 have recovered from the virus in Quebec, while over 1.9 million people have been tested.
One new case was reported in New Brunswick, the only Atlantic province to see new cases Monday. A total of 194 cases have been reported there since the pandemic began. Two of the patients have died and 189 have recovered.
Five new COVID-19 infections were reported in Saskatchewan, yet no more deaths were reported.
Overall, the province has seen 1,731 confirmed cases of the virus and 24 deaths. So far, 160,275 people in Saskatchewan have been tested for the virus, while 1,604 have recovered.
Manitoba saw 21 new confirmed cases of the virus on Monday and no new deaths. In total, 1,449 cases have been detected, over a dozen of which are considered probable cases and have yet to be confirmed by testing.
More than 155,000 tests for COVID-19 have been administered throughout the province, while 1,176 people have recovered after becoming infected with the coronavirus. Sixteen people have died to date.
The past three days saw 317 new cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia, including 61 on Monday. Provincial health authorities said the death toll increased to 219 after six more deaths were recorded since Friday.
More than 437,000 tests for the respiratory illness have been administered, and 5,446 of the province’s 7,172 confirmed cases are in recovery. An additional 107 cases are considered “epidemiologically linked” and have not been confirmed through testing.
Alberta health officials detected 418 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days, including 140 on Monday, and said one more person had died since Friday. There have been 15,833 cases of the virus and 254 COVID-19-related deaths so far.
To date, 1,130,828 people in the province have been tested for the virus and 14,041 have recovered after falling ill.
None of the three territories reported new cases Monday. Nunavut remains the only jurisdiction in Canada free of COVID-19.
The weekend data from British Columbia and Alberta significantly raised the daily totals for Saturday and Sunday, with both provinces adding over 100 new cases both days.
Sunday’s case total was increased to 808, marking the first time since May 29 that over 800 new cases were reported.
Cases have been steadily increasing across the country since late August, following a smaller rise earlier in the summer that was brought back down weeks later.
Public health and government officials have expressed worry about the rising cases, particularly as students and teachers return to school nationwide.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reminded Canadians that “we are not out of the woods,” and urged people to continue practicing physical distancing and wear masks whenever possible.
“We need to continue to remain vigilant,” he said Monday before launching a cabinet retreat in a Global Affairs Canada office building in Ottawa. “The last thing anyone wants is to go into this fall in a lockdown similar to this spring, and the way we can prevent that is by remaining vigilant.”
Originally focused on building a post-pandemic economy, ministers are now expected to spend significant time during the retreat mulling the immediate challenge of a second wave of COVID-19.
Many other countries are also seeing rising cases, and are preparing for the possibility of a resurgence in virus cases coupled with the seasonal flu this fall.
Worldwide, over 29.1 million cases of the coronavirus have been reported to date, with more than 925,000 deaths.
The United States remains the most heavily infected country on Earth, with over 6.5 million confirmed cases, while 194,000 people have died.
— With files from the Canadian Press