Canada added another 3,452 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, pushing the national caseload to 930,521.
The country’s death toll from the virus now stands at 22,643 after another 26 fatalities were added, though at least 873,200 patients have since recovered.
To date over 26.9 million tests and 3.89 million vaccine doses have since been administered, while 2,035 people are currently in hospital due to COVID-19.
According to Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam, a total of 4,499 variants of concern have since been reported across Canada as of March 18.
In a statement Saturday, Tam once again urged caution as several parts of the country continued to lift public health measures.
“Any easing of public health measures must be done slowly with enhanced testing, screening, and genomic analysis to detect variants of concern,” said Tam in her statement.
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“While vaccine programs accelerate, it will be important to maintain a high degree of caution.”
On Saturday, Ontario reported another 1,745 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 more deaths. Quebec, which has recorded the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in the country, added another 775 new cases Saturday, as well as seven more deaths.
Alberta reported 556 new COVID-19 cases, of which 99 were considered to be variants of concern. The province also added another four deaths.
Saskatchewan added 200 new cases and three more deaths on Saturday, while Manitoba reported 87 infections and one fatality.
In Atlantic Canada, only two provinces reported new cases of COVID-19.
Nova Scotia added another two infections and New Brunswick three more.
Nunavut did not report any new COVID-19 cases during its update on Saturday.
Worldwide, cases of COVID-19 continue to increase, with over 122.7 million infections diagnosed to date, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 2.7 million people have since died from the virus as well, with the U.S., India, Mexico and Brazil continuing to lead in both cases or deaths.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
