Canada reported 3,116 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, pushing its total COVID-19 infections past the grim milestone of 250,000.
Another 45 deaths were also reported Friday, raising the country’s death toll to 10,381. More than 207,000 patients out of the 251,070 cases in the country have since recovered from the virus, however, while over 12 million tests have been administered.
Thursday’s case count is also expected to be much higher due to Alberta not releasing new data because of a reporting error in the province.
According to the province’s chief medical officer of health, Alberta confirmed approximately 800 new cases of the virus over the past 24 hours — a number that would set both a new record for the province, while also pushing the country’s overall daily case load to almost 4,000.
Health Canada on Thursday also approved the first-ever Canadian-made rapid coronavirus test. The Triplelock test strip, which was developed by Precision Biomonitoring, will be manufactured in southern Ontario.
Until today, all rapid tests in the country have been imported from other countries.
British Columbia set a record number of daily reported cases Thursday, as infections in the province surged past 400 over the past 24 hours.
A total of 425 new cases were announced on Thursday, of which four were identified as epi-linked — cases who show symptoms of the virus and were close contacts of confirmed infections, but were never formally diagnosed.
A total of 268 patients out of the province’s 16,560 COVID-19 infections are considered epi-linked.
Thursday’s data also marks the first time the province reported over 400 new cases, with the previous record of 381 recorded set on Nov. 1.
Saskatchewan also smashed its record in newly reported cases Thursday, as health officials announced 129 new cases — an increase of over 40 per cent from its previous record of 82 new cases reported on Oct. 29.
As of Thursday, the province now has a total of 3,536 confirmed COVID-19 infections. The death toll stands at 25.
Quebec added 1,138 new cases of the virus, pushing its total coronavirus cases past the 110,00 mark. Another 28 deaths were also announced on Thursday, though only 10 of those deaths occurred in the past 24 hours.
The province, which is the hardest hit by the virus in Canada, has seen 6,378 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Ontario reported 998 new cases of the virus, as well as 13 more deaths. Thursday’s data brings the province’s total COVID-19 infections to 80,960 and its death toll to 3,195.
Several more cases were also announced in Atlantic Canada, with both New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador reporting two more cases and Nova Scotia adding one.
Worldwide, cases of the novel coronavirus have surpassed 48 million according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. To date, over 1.23 million people have also succumbed to the virus, with the United States, Brazil and India leading in both cases and deaths.
— With files from Matt Carty