Provincial health authorities also said 68 more people have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- Canadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
- Invasive strep: ‘Don’t wait’ to seek care, N.S. woman warns on long road to recovery
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has been seeing a “significant rise” in COVID-19 cases.
“And we know that people are trying to balance a time where people are getting tired and frustrated by COVID-19, but we also know that the best thing to do, to protect not just the health of Canadians but the health of our economy into the medium and long-term is to do what is necessary to keep people safe from COVID right now.”
He said the federal government is working hard to make it possible for local jurisdictions to “do the right thing” and shut down or impose restrictions to help limit the spread of the virus.
Trudeau said vaccines are “on the horizon,” but added that “we are not there yet.”
“We need to make it through this winter, and in order to do that, we have to put the health of Canadians first, which is also the way to put the economy first,” he said.
Ontario and Quebec each added more than 1,000 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with 1,388 and 1,162 respectively.
Between the two provinces, 53 new deaths were reported.
In Manitoba, 383 new cases and five new deaths were reported.
Meanwhile, health officials said 127 new infections were detected in Saskatchewan, but the province’s death toll remained at 29.
Alberta reported 713 new cases on Tuesday, marking its highest daily increase since the pandemic began.
The province also saw seven more deaths associated with the virus, pushing the death toll to 376.
British Columbia added 525 new cases and three new deaths on Tuesday.
In Atlantic Canada, four new cases were identified.
Nova Scotia reported three new infections and one new death, while one new case was detected in Prince Edward Island.
No new cases or fatalities associated with COVID-19 were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador or in New Brunswick.
Canada’s territories did not report any new cases of the virus on Tuesday, either.
To date, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have seen 23, 10 and two cases respectively.
Yukon is the only Canadian territory to have reported a death associated with COVID-19.
Comments