Canada reported 3,664 new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday, as well as 55 more deaths.
The data brings the country’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 255,536, and its death toll to 10,436.
Over 211,000 patients have recovered from the virus while a total of 12,197,000 tests have been administered since the start of the pandemic.
Friday’s data represents the country’s second highest ever 24-hour increase in new COVID-19 cases. Canada’s record daily case increase, which was retroactively set on Thursday after Alberta released data initially held back due to a reporting error, now stands at 3,918 newly confirmed infections.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, emphasized the importance of wearing a mask and avoiding the three Cs — closed spaces, crowded spaces and close contact — during a press conference Friday.
Her comments come after the Canadian health officials amended their guidance on how the virus spreads, acknowledging for the first time on Tuesday that the virus could potentially spread through aerosols — tiny droplets that can linger in the air.
The federal government also noted Friday that a potential coronavirus vaccine could be rolled out as soon as three months from now, though the prime minister later added that the distribution for a vaccine could pose significant logistical challenges in the new year.
Nunavut announced its first-ever case of COVID-19 Friday after an infection was reported in the community of Sanikiluaq. The territory previously announced several cases arising from a pair of local mines, though those cases remained uncounted as the infections were out-of-territory workers that were counted by their home jurisdictions.
British Columbia broke its record again in daily reported coronavirus cases after 589 new infections were reported by health officials Friday. The cases also include five that are epi-linked, which refers to patients who have symptoms and are in close contact to confirmed cases.
The province has a total of 16,876 lab-confirmed cases of the virus, and another 273 which are epi-linked. Another two new deaths were also confirmed Friday, bringing the province’s total fatalities to 275.
Alberta recorded a whopping 1,411 new cases spread out over the past two days, as well as eight more deaths. The province’s update in new cases, which was delayed until Friday, included a daily case record of 802 new cases on Thursday, as well 609 new cases on Friday.
To date, a total of 31,858 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Alberta, while 352 have since succumbed to the virus.
Quebec added 1,133 new cases of the virus Friday raising its total COVID-19 infections to 112,189. Another 25 deaths related to the virus were also announced Friday, though only five of those fatalities occurred in the past 24 hours.
The province, which is the hardest hit in the country by the virus, has now registered 6,403 deaths.
Ontario added 1,003 new cases of the virus and 14 more deaths on Friday. The data brings the province’s total COVID-19 cases to 81,693, and its death toll to 3,209.
Several provinces in Atlantic Canada also announced new cases Friday. Both Nova Scotia and P.E.I. reported two new cases, while New Brunswick added a single case on Friday.
Worldwide, more than 49.2 million people have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Global deaths have since surpassed 1.24 million, with the United States, Brazil and India leading in both fatalities and cases.
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