Canada added 3,069 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, pushing the total number of infections in the country to 890,703.
Health officials also said another 31 people have died after contracting COVID-19, meaning to date, the virus has claimed 22,276 lives in Canada.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Canada’ top doctor Theresa Tam said Canada continues to “make progress with overall declines in severe illness and deaths.”
“But the decline in case counts has slowed and #VariantsOfConcern are increasing so we need to remain vigilant,” she wrote.
According to Health Canada, as of March 7, a total of 2,039 cases of the variants of concern had been reported across Canada.
“We’ve got what it takes to keep these variants down — public health measures + individual precautions — and as #COVID19vaccines continue to roll out, our future keeps looking brighter,” Tam wrote.
“Let’s hold on together to not give these variants an inch.”
So far, more than 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across Canada, meaning approximately 3.26 per cent of the country’s population has now been inoculated.
While Canada’s vaccine rollout has been slow, the federal government has repeatedly stated that all Canadians who want a COVID-19 vaccine will have access to one by the end of September.
New cases, deaths
In Ontario, 1,631 new cases and 10 new deaths were reported, while Quebec added 579 new infections and nine more fatalities.
Meanwhile, health officials in Saskatchewan said 97 more people have contracted the illness and one more person has died.
In Manitoba, 63 more people have tested positive for COVID-19, while also reporting one additional death.
In Atlantic Canada 10 more people have tested positive for COVID-19.
Five new infections were reported in New Brunswick, while health authorities in Newfoundland and Labrador said three more people have fallen ill.
Prince Edward Island officials said two new cases were detected in the province.
None of the Maritime provinces or Newfoundland and Labrador reported any more fatalities on Monday.
In western Canada, hundreds of new cases were detected.
British Columbia added 385 new infections and four new fatalities, while health officials in Alberta said 304 more people have fallen ill. Six more deaths have occurred since Saturday in Alberta as well.
No new cases or deaths were reported in any of Canada’s northern territories.
Global cases top 117 million
The total number of COVID-19 cases around the world topped 117 million on Monday.
According to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University, a total of 117,055,507 people have been infected with the virus globally.
Since the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019, it has claimed 2,597,213 lives, according to Johns Hopkins.
The United States has reported the highest number of cases at 29,030,476. The country has also seen the most fatalities associated with COVID-19, with 525,541 to date.