Canada added 1,241 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, marking the fourth straight day the country has seen a daily increase above 1,000.
Provincial health authorities also said six more people have died after contracting COVID-19. The country’s death toll now stands at 9,234.
The new infections come amid growing concern that Canada may be experiencing a second wave of the virus.
At a press conference earlier on Tuesday Canada’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, called the new cases in Canada “concerning.”
She said the situation will continue to escalate unless both public health and personal preventive measures are strengthened.
“The only way to achieve strong control of COVID-19 and prevent the virus from surging into an uncontrollable growth trajectory is for public health authorities and the public to work together,” Tam said.
Tam’s comments come as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to address the nation about the pandemic.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Trudeau is scheduled to “address Canadians directly on the urgency of fighting COVID-19 as we face down the prospect of a second wave of the virus.”
He is scheduled to speak at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Ontario reported 478 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, and health officials said three more people in the province had died.
Since the pandemic began, 41,342 people have recovered after falling ill, and 3,614,544 tests have been administered in Ontario.
In Quebec, 489 new novel coronavirus infections were reported, bringing the province’s total case count to 68,617.
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Health officials also said one more person had died, pushing the total death toll in Quebec to 5,805.
So far, 59,450 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the province, and 2,115,208 people have been tested for the virus.
In Manitoba, 24 new cases of COVID-19 were detected on Tuesday, but provincial health authorities said the death toll remained at 18.
The province has tested 167,203 people for the virus and 1,234 have recovered after contracting COVID-19.
Saskatchewan saw 10 new COVID-19 infections Sept. 22, but no new deaths.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,654 people have recovered from the virus in Saskatchewan and more than 175,400 tests have been conducted.
Further west in Alberta, 150 new cases were reported, and health officials said two more people had died.
The new fatalities bring the province’s death toll to 258.
However, 15,066 have recovered from the virus. So far 1,229,939 tests have been administered in Alberta.
British Columbia saw 89 new lab-confirmed cases of the virus, but health officials confirmed no one else had died.
Provincial health authorities also reported seven new epidemiologically-linked cases, meaning they have not yet been confirmed by a lab.
To date, 6,589 people have recovered from COVID-19 in British Columbia and 479,574 tests have been administered.
New Brunswick did not see any new cases or deaths relating to COVID-19 on Tuesday.
To date, the province has seen 196 cases of the virus and two deaths.
Thus far, 191 people have recovered from COVID-19 in New Brunswick, and 70,844 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus.
Nova Scotia reported one new case of the virus on Tuesday, but health officials said the death toll remained at 65.
A total of 1,021 people have recovered from the virus in Nova Scotia, and 89,546 tests have been conducted.
No new cases or deaths were detected in Prince Edward Island, health officials confirmed.
The island has seen a total of 57 cases of the virus, 56 of which are considered to be recovered.
Newfoundland did not report any new cases or deaths related to COVID-19 either.
The province, which has seen 272 cases, has not recorded a new infection since Thursday.
A total of 3,8527 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Newfoundland, and 268 have recovered after contracting the virus.
No new cases in the territories
None of Canada’s territories reported a new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Nunavut has seen three cases of the virus to date, however, each have been tied to workers from other parts of the country.
The territory says the infections will be counted in the totals for the workers’ home jurisdictions, meaning Nunavut still considers itself free of COVID-19 cases.
All five of the confirmed cases of the virus in the Northwest Territories are considered resolved.
Health officials in the territory have tested 4,801 people for the virus.
Similarly, in Yukon, all 15 confirmed cases of the virus are resolved.
A total of 3,185 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Yukon territory.
U.S. deaths top 200,000, global cases inch towards 32 million
The novel coronavirus pandemic passed another grim milestone on Tuesday, with the death toll in the United States surpassing 200,000.
As of 7:30 p.m. ET, 200,641 had died of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the death toll was a “shame,” but defended his administration’s response to the pandemic.
“Well I think it’s a shame,” he said. “I think if we didn’t do it properly and do it right, you’d have two and a half million deaths.”
The country, which remains the global epicentre of the virus, has seen more than 6.8 million cases.
Worldwide, more than 31,444,163 cases of the virus have been confirmed.
Globally, the pandemic has claimed 967,197 lives.
–With a file from Global News’ Katie Dangerfield
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