Canada shatters daily coronavirus case record as Alberta detects 1st South Africa variant – National

 

Canada added another 9,197 new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday, shattering the nation’s daily infection record and edging closer to earlier predictions of the country reaching as much as 14,000 new COVID-19 infections a day.

Another 128 fatalities were reported as well, pushing the country’s death toll to 16,707. To date, Canada has seen a confirmed 643,848 cases of COVID-19, though 545,971 of those patients have since recovered.

A total of 19,371,000 tests have been administered as well, though current hospitalizations from the virus now stand at 4,466.

In a statement Friday, Canada’s Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam announced that there was an average of 136 deaths being reported each day, while over 800 those hospitalized in Canadian hospitals were currently in critical care.

According to her, there have been 14 cases of the U.K. COVID-19 variant detected in Canada as of Friday. Federal health officials also confirmed that Alberta saw the country’s first case of a new COVID-19 variant originally seen in South Africa.

Tam’s statement also said that over 115,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered as of Jan. 1, with a total of nine adverse reactions occurring so far.

Canada’s newly-reported cases topped the 9,000-mark for the first time on Friday, as daily infections continue to follow previous public health modelling which suggested the country was on track to hit between 12,000 to 14,000 new COVID-19 cases daily by January.

Tam, who presented that data at a press conference back in December, said then that the country had “yet to see the kind of sustained daily decline that would indicate we have the pandemic under control.”

“There’s little indication this upward trajectory would change without further intensified public health measures,” warned Tam at the time.

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Daily reported cases of the virus in Canada have seen a steady increase over the past two months, with daily infections now more than triple the amount of the country’s peak during the first wave of the virus in the spring.

The record setting amount was also reached as several provinces announced new or reinforced restrictions to stem the spread of the virus.

As of Saturday evening, anyone now crossing the border from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia will now be required two self-isolate for two weeks.

Nova Scotia added two cases of the virus Friday while New Brunswick reported 18 more infections. P.E.I. did not release new data on Friday while Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases during its daily update.

Manitoba, on the other hand, extended its current public restrictions for another two weeks. The strict measures were initially ordered in mid-November and included limits on social gatherings and store openings.

An exemption to measures was made for the Winnipeg Jets however, allowing them to play upcoming NHL games at the Bell MTS Place.

The province added another 221 new cases and 9 more deaths, while Saskatchewan reported 336 infections and seven more fatalities.

Another 599 lab-confirmed cases were reported in B.C., as well as 18 more deaths. Eighteen more epi-linked cases were also reported in the province, which are patients that exhibit symptoms and are close contacts of confirmed cases, but have never formally been tested.

A total of 501 cases, which are not represented in Global News’ tally, are considered epi-linked.

Alberta saw another 1,183 cases on Friday, which pushed its provincial total to 109,652. Health authorities there also announced another 24 deaths.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned Friday that the province was in its “most serious situation” since the start of the pandemic as another record breaking single-day total was announced by health authorities.

The province added another 4,249 virus cases on Friday, though 450 of those cases were older cases and tacked on to the daily case count because of a data backlog. The new total puts Friday’s new case count in the province at just under 3,800, which still breaks Ontario’s previous record of 3,519.

The province’s death toll also hit 4,882 after 26 more deaths were reported.

Quebec added another 2,588 cases on Friday, as well as another 45 new deaths. The provincial death toll there though amounts to only 8,606 after Friday’s updated after one death was withdrawn due to not being attributable to COVID-19.

The Yukon reported one new case during its daily update Friday, while the Northwest Territories did not see any new infections. Nunavut did not release new COVID-19 data Friday.

To date, more than 88,845,000 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 1,912,800 people have also succumbed to the virus, with the U.S., India and Brazil continuing to lead in both cases and deaths.

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