The country's chief public health officer said Canadians need to maintain COVID-19 precautions, especially as cases of more contagious variants mount across the country.

Vaccine deliveries are also expected to ramp up across the country this week, with Pfizer-BioNTech slated to deliver its biggest shipment to date.

Experts say patients are flooding hospitals at an alarming rate and are expected to arrive in even greater numbers in the weeks to come.

The usual crowded malls and long lineups of Boxing Day are expected to be replaced with internet searches and online orders.

Infectious disease experts said that Canada should be vaccinating with as much of the doses they have on hand as fast as possible.

Schools, businesses and workplaces were allowed to reopen, except in Arviat, which had 65 active cases. The coastal community on the western edge of Hudson Bay is to remain shut down for at least two more weeks.

The unprecedented process involves providing up to two doses of a vaccine — which the leading candidates require instead of just one — to nearly 38 million Canadians spread across a vast country within several months.

Across the country, health authorities identified a total of 4,792 new cases of the virus as well as 49 more deaths.

Dr. Brendan Hanley, chief medical officer of health, says the three people belong to the same "family cluster'' and it's not yet known how they contracted the illness.

Medical officers in Toronto and Ottawa joined provincial associations representing registered nurses, hospitals and long-term care sectors in demanding Ontario significantly curtail non-essential businesses.