Canada added 2,605 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, pushing the total number of infections in the country to 834,187.
Provincial health officials also confirmed that another 38 people have died after contracting COVID-19.
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Since the virus was first detected, it has claimed 21,435 lives in Canada.
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However, by Wednesday, a total of 779,766 people had recovered after contracting the disease, and 1,329,036 doses of the vaccines to protect against the virus had been administered.
In a series of tweets Wednesday, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Canada is experiencing a “set back” now that the new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus have been identified in all of the country’s provinces.
1/3 #COVID19 key concerns in : Our collective YOU + #PublicHealth effort continues to show in the steady decline of disease activity & severe outcomes, BUT with #VariantsOfConcern gaining momentum, we cannot afford to let go of the brakes! https://t.co/E40rm7PSPs
— Dr. Theresa Tam (@CPHO_Canada) February 17, 2021
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“This hurdle requires us to be extra diligent with individual practices,” she said.
Tam urged Canadians to continue abiding by public health measures including wearing a mask, washing their hands and limiting their contacts to “help protect the progress we have made and keep the runway clear for vaccine programs to expand and begin to work.”
3/3 Keep to #EssentialsOnly, consistently #WashMaskSpace, and #AVOID3Cs, to help protect the progress we have made and keep the runway clear for vaccine programs to expand and begin to work. #VanquishTheVariants#crushCOVIDhttps://t.co/w27G7rHASE
— Dr. Theresa Tam (@CPHO_Canada) February 17, 2021
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According to Health Canada, as of Thursday, 1,443,400 doses of the two approved COVID-19 vaccines had been distributed across the country.
By Wednesday evening, approximately 1.78 per cent of the Canadian population had been vaccinated.
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While Canada’s vaccine rollout has been hampered by multiple delays from both Pfizer and Moderna, the federal government maintains that all Canadians who want a vaccine will have access to one by the end of September.
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The country is expecting to receive six million doses four million from Pfizer and two million from Moderna by the end of March.
Provinces see hundreds of new cases
In Ontario, 847 new cases and 10 more deaths were reported.
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The province has now seen 288,583 infections and 6,729 fatalities to date.
Health officials in Quebec said 800 more people have fallen ill, and 12 more have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
The new infections bring the provincial case load to 278,987, while 10,258 have died so far.
Manitoba added 75 new cases on Tuesday for a total of 31,007.
One more person has died, pushing the provincial death toll to 876.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan health officials said another 124 people have contracted the coronavirus and five more have died.
To date, the province has seen 26,953 infections and 362 fatalities associated with the virus.
Fifty new COVID-19 cases were detected in Atlantic Canada on Wednesday.
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Officials in Newfoundland and Labrador reported 44 new cases of the disease but said no one else has died.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick each added three new cases.
Prince Edward Island did not report any new COVID-19 data on Wednesday, but the latest numbers released Tuesday said 112 of the province’s 114 cases are considered to be resolved.
None of Canada’s Maritime provinces saw a new death related to the coronavirus.
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In western Canada, hundreds of new infections were reported.
Alberta health officials said 277 more people have fallen ill, and seven more have died.
So far, the province has seen 129,615 infections and 1,798 fatalities.
In British Columbia, 427 new cases were reported, pushing the provincial case load to 74,710.
Three new deaths means to date, the virus has claimed 1,317 lives in B.C.
New cases in the territories
Five new cases were also reported in Canada’s territories.
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The Northwest Territories added four new infections for a total of 47, while one new case in Nunavut pushed the region’s total case load to 324.
Global cases near 110 million
The total number of COVID-19 infections around the world neared 110 million on Wednesday.
According to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University, by 8 p.m. ET, 109,865,740 people had contracted the disease globally.
Since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019, it has claimed 2,428,155 lives worldwide.
The United States has been the hardest-hit by the pandemic, with more than 27.8 million infections and over 490,000 fatalities.
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