Canada added 3,738 more cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 783,580.
Since the virus was first detected, it has claimed 20,136 lives in Canada.
However, over 709,000 people across the country have recovered after contracting COVID-19, and more than 19 million tests have been administered.
According to Health Canada, as of Jan. 21, a total of 1,119,225 of the two approved vaccines to protect against COVID-19 had been distributed for use.
Of those, 963,886 doses have been administered.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, said the number of cases and “severe outcomes” — hospitalizations and deaths — are “trending down,” but added that all are “still high.”
She said the country is still seeing “well over double” the number of cases seen daily during the first wave of the pandemic.
“There is A LOT of infection out there, + new variant cases, making this descent our toughest yet,” she wrote.
Tam urged Canadians to continue to abide by public health measures put in place to help stem the spread of the virus, including practicing physical distancing and good hand hygiene, and limiting their contacts.
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new measures for those returning to Canada from abroad.
He said on top of requiring a negative test before boarding their flight, Canadians returning home will soon be required to take a COVID-19 test when they arrive in the country, and stay at a designated hotel until those results are returned, at their own expense.
Anyone who tests positive for the virus will be required to stay at a government-sanctioned facility to ensure they are not infected with one of the newly identified strains of the virus, Trudeau said.
Thousands of new cases in the provinces
In Ontario, 1,969 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported, pushing the province’s total number of infections to 270,180.
Health officials also said 36 more people have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
The new fatalities mean to date, 6,224 people have died in Ontario after contracting the virus.
The province also reported its first known case of the South African coronavirus variant and officials say there is no known link to travel.
It’s believed the variant is more transmissible than other strains of the virus, but it is not clear if it causes more severe illness.
Meanwhile, in Quebec, 890 new cases and 32 new deaths were detected, bringing the total number of infections to 263,473 and fatalities to 9,826.
In Atlantic Canada, 11 new cases were detected.
Health officials in New Brunswick said eight new cases were detected, while Prince Edward Island reported two new infections.
Meanwhile, one more person has tested positive for the virus in Nova Scotia.
Saskatchewan officials reported 147 new cases for a total of 24,011 infections in the province.
Two new deaths pushed the provincial death toll to 306.
In Manitoba, 89 new cases of COVID-19 were detected and health authorities said three more people have died.
So far, 29,651 people have contracted the virus, and it has claimed 832 lives in Manitoba.
In western Canada, 632 new cases were reported, with 355 new infections in Alberta and 277 in British Columbia.
Ten more people have also died in Alberta since the virus was first detected, pushing the total death toll in the province to 1,649.
Meanwhile, health officials in British Columbia said 21 more people have died since Friday, bringing the province’s total number of fatalities to 1,210.
No new cases of COVID-19 or deaths relate to the virus were reported in Canada’s territories on Monday.
Global cases top 103 million
Globally, 103,298,719 people have contracted the virus, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.
Since the virus was first detected in China in late 2019, it has claimed 2,234,565 lives.
The United States remained the epicentre of the virus on Monday, with over 26.2 million confirmed infections and more than 442,000 fatalities.
— With files from Global News’ Ryan Rocca