Canada adds 285 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, most in Ontario and Quebec

The national tally of COVID-19 cases grew by at least 285 on Saturday, and an additional six deaths have been attributed to the disease.

Since January, 116,551 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Canada. Across the country, 8,941 people have succumbed to the illness, according to figures provided by provincial governments.

More than 101,000 people have recovered from the virus, and 4.7 million tests have been conducted across the country.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, encouraged Canadians to stay active to protect their physical health and mental well-being as the pandemic wears on.

“Summer is a great time to enjoy activities in lower-risk environments such as parks and trails; individual activities such as bike riding and jogging; and low contact sports such as golf and tennis,” she said in a statement Saturday.

“Wherever you enjoy the great Canadians outdoors, limit yourself to a small and consistent social circle and be mindful of potential exposure risks in shared facilities or in places where people may gather. Plan ahead and take precautions any time you are in a 3-Cs high-risk situation (closed spaces, crowded places or in close contact).”

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported Saturday is significantly lower than the daily national figures reported earlier this week, but only seven provinces — and none of the territories — are releasing new coronavirus data on the weekends.

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Quebec, where the crisis has hit the hardest, crept closer toward 60,000 cases on Saturday, with the announcement of an additional 146 diagnoses. The new cases bring the provincial total to 59,458. There were no new deaths, but the province announced four previously unreported deaths that occurred prior to July 24.

As of Saturday, 5,678 Quebecers have lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic, more than double Ontario’s death toll.

That province added 124 cases on Saturday, along with two deaths. Overall, 39,333 people in Ontario have been diagnosed, and 2,777 of Ontario’s coronavirus cases were fatal.

Saskatchewan added 15 new cases to its total on Saturday, for a total of 1,334 overall, along with 18 deaths.

Manitoba has had less than a third of the cases reported in Saskatchewan. That province’s lab-confirmed diagnosis total stands at 401. Manitoba announced two additional cases on Saturday but they are not yet reflected in the Global News tally — which only includes lab-confirmed cases —  as the province hasn’t specified whether they are confirmed through testing or considered presumptive.

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No cases were reported in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and Labrador — the only other provinces that released updates Saturday.

As of Friday, British Columbia has recorded 3,609 diagnoses — plus 32 cases not confirmed through testing but considered epidemiologically linked — and 195 fatalities.

Alberta has had significantly more cases at 10,843, though it has claimed far fewer lives proportionately, at 196.

P.E.I. has had 36 cases, all of which have recovered, according to provincial health data.

As of Friday’s data, all but three of Yukon’s 14 confirmed cases had recovered. The five cases in the Northwest Territories have recovered, and no cases have been diagnosed in Nunavut.

Around the world, and particularly in the U.S., the virus is continuing to spread rapidly. A running tally by Johns Hopkins University shows nearly 17.1 million people have been diagnosed, and 681,000 people have succumbed to the illness globally.

On Friday, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic’s effects will be felt for years to come.

“The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come,” Tedros told a meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee, according to remarks released by the agency.

—With a file from Reuters