Canada adds 6,847 new coronavirus cases as deaths surpass 17K

The number of hospitalizations also jumped on Monday, with another 87 people requiring medical assistance after testing positive for the virus.

However, 545,971 people have recovered from coronavirus infections in Canada, while over 19.3 million tests have been administered. 

The new cases come as health officials across the country work to vaccinate those most vulnerable to the respiratory virus.

On Monday, the federal government published a vaccine delivery list, featuring forecasted shipment dates that outline exactly how many doses of each vaccine provinces and territories can expect, and when.

So far, Canada has approved two vaccines against the virus for use, one from Pfizer-BioNTech, the other made by Moderna.

According to Health Canada, a total of 548,950 doses of the vaccines have been distributed across the country.

The federal government says enough vaccines to inoculate the entire population will be available by September.

In the meantime, Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said “more than ever” people must abide by the public health measures in place to stem the spread of the virus.

“The next months will be difficult as we continue on a trajectory of strong resurgence with emergence of new variants of concern,” she said in a series of tweets on Monday.

For months, public health experts have urged Canadians to limit their number of contacts, avoid all non-essential travel, and continue to abide by other public health measures including practicing physical distancing and good hand hygiene.

“A year of consistent, persistent, collective effort, has given us this light at the end of the tunnel,” Tam said. “We are still in the tunnel, but we are in it together and together we have what it takes to see things through.”

Thousands of new cases in the provinces

In Ontario, 3,338 new cases were detected, and health officials said another 29 people have died after testing positive for the virus.

The new fatalities push the province’s total death toll to 5,012, while 219,120 cases have been reported in Ontario. 

Meanwhile, 1,869 new cases in Quebec mean a total of 230,690 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus. 

Fifty-one more fatalities bring the province’s death toll to 8,737.

Saskatchewan added 412 new cases of the virus, and eight more deaths, bringing the total number of infections and fatalities to 18,522 and 199 respectively.

Health officials in Manitoba reported 133 new coronavirus infections and three more fatalities on Monday.

To date, the province has seen 26,450 cases and 741 deaths associated with the virus. 

In Atlantic Canada, 26 new cases of the virus were detected.

Health authorities in New Brunswick said 21 more people have fallen ill, bringing the total case load to 800.

However, no new deaths mean the provincial death toll remained at nine.

Meanwhile, five new cases were reported in Nova Scotia, but health officials said no one else had died.

Since the pandemic began the province has seen 1,533 confirmed cases of the virus and 65 deaths. 

No new cases or deaths were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador, meaning the total number of infections and fatalities remained at 393 and four respectively. 

Prince Edward Island did not release any new COVID-19 data on Monday, but the latest numbers suggest the province has seen 104 cases of the coronavirus, 94 of which are considered to be resolved.

In Alberta 639 more cases have been detected meaning to date, 112,091 people have contracted the respiratory illness.

Another 23 more people have also died, health officials confirmed, pushing the death toll to 1,307.

British Columbia added 430 new cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections in the province to 57,597.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also announced 22 more people had died from the disease since Friday, bringing the total since March to 1,010.

The province has also reported 510 epidemiologically-linked cases, meaning they have not yet been confirmed by a laboratory.

No new cases in Canada’s territories

No new cases or deaths associated with the virus were reported in Canada’s territories on Monday.

To date, Nunavut has seen 266 infections, while the Yukon has reported 70 infections, both regions have reported one death.

The Northwest Territories did not report any new cases or fatalities either.

So far, the region has seen 24 confirmed cases of the disease.

Global case count

Since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019, it has infected 90,833,894 million people around the world, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

As of 8 p.m. ET, the virus had claimed 1,942,974 lives globally.

The United States remained the viral epicentre on Monday, with more than 22.5 million confirmed infections and over 375,000 deaths.