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Canada adds 6,285 new coronavirus cases as country secures more vaccine doses

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Coronavirus: Canada to buy 20 million additional vaccine doses from Pfizer
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the total number of recoveries and tests administered in Canada.

Health officials across Canada reported 6,285 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, pushing the total number of infections to 673,957.
Another 147 people have also died after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the national death toll to 17,233.
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However, since the pandemic began, 576,447 people have recovered after contracting the respiratory illness, while 19,432,256 tests have been administered.

The new cases and fatalities come as the federal government announced it has secured 20 million more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to protect against the virus.

“From our agreements with Moderna and Pfizer alone, we will now have 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines arriving this year,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa. “We’re on track to have every Canadian who wants a vaccine receive one by September.”

Trudeau said the federal government has let all provinces and territories know “exactly how many vaccines they’ll be receiving every week between now and the end of February.”

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The prime minister also announced the Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travellers until Feb. 21, in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.

Provinces report thousands of new infections

In Ontario, 2,903 new cases and 41 new fatalities were detected.

This means since the pandemic began the province has reported 222,023 infections and 5,053 deaths.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford imposed another state of emergency on Tuesday, the second since the onset of the pandemic in March. He said it will be in effect for at least 28 days.

Ford also issued a stay-at-home-order, saying the province’s health system “is on the brink of collapse.”

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Meanwhile, Quebec added 1,934 new cases and 45 fatalities.

To date, 232,624 cases of the virus have been detected in Quebec, and 8,782 people have died after falling ill. 

A curfew aimed at stemming the spread of the virus remains in effect across the province.

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Saskatchewan added 248 new cases and five new deaths on Tuesday, while 90 new infections and seven new fatalities were reported in Manitoba.

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Nineteen new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in Atlantic Canada, with health officials in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island each reporting one infection.

Newfoundland and Labrador did not detect any new cases or deaths associated with the coronavirus Tuesday.

New Brunswick added 17 cases of the virus, and was the only maritime province to report any new fatalities. Two new deaths bring the provincial death toll to 11.

In western Canada, 1,088 more people have tested positive for the virus, officials said.

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Alberta health officials said 652 new cases of the disease have been detected and 38 more deaths have occurred.

In British Columbia, 439 new infections and nine new fatalties were reported.

No new cases or fatalities were announced in Canada’s territories either.

Global cases top 91 million

The novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019. In the months since, it has infected a total of 91,492,144, worldwide and claimed 1,958,894 lives, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States remained the viral epicentre on Tuesday, with more than 22.7 million infections and at least 379,000 deaths.

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