OTTAWA – Canada reported 18,230 new COVID-19 cases on Monday (Dec. 27) at noon, elevating the cumulative whole to 2,026,249 cases with 30,172 deaths, according to CTV.
Canada’s Ontario province confirmed 9,418 new cases on Monday, more than 9,400 new cases for the fourth straight day.
Out of the new cases in Ontario, 913 cases were identified in children under the age of 12. There were 1,015 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 4,300 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.
The new cases brought the cumulative total to 706,580 in Ontario, including deaths and recoveries.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average soared to 7,550, up from 2,863 at the same point last week.
There were 480 people in hospital due to COVID-19 and 176 of those patients were in intensive care units in the province. A total of 26,494,532 vaccine doses had been administered across the province, and 90.7% of Ontarians aged 12 and over had one dose of vaccine and 88% had two doses.
Quebec province reported 8,231 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the positivity rate to 24.9% and the cumulative total number of people infected to 546,437.
The seven-day average stood at 8,020 and there were 1,469 active outbreaks.
There were 614 people in Quebec hospitals being treated for COVID-19, up 187 from the day before, with 109 patients in intensive care, up 21.
Of the new cases in Quebec, 313 people were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated with one dose received less than 14 days ago; 1,327 were people who had one dose, and 6,591 were people who received two doses.
Over the past week, the COVID-19 case count continued to rise across Canada as the Omicron variant became further entrenched in the country.
An increasing number of athletes testing positive for the virus prompted Curling Canada to cancel the Olympic mixed doubles trials on Sunday (Dec. 26).
Meanwhile, Canadian health experts expect case counts to continue to increase, together with more concerns about the capacity of Canada’s hospitals and healthcare workers to handle another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some provinces have asked people to get tested only if they have symptoms, as hospitals have reached their testing limits. This means there are likely far more cases than what has been reported. (Xinhua) – bny
