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Canada's COVID-19 cases continue increasing

Dec 04, 2021

Ottawa (Canada), December 4: Canada's daily COVID-19 case counts continued to increase, with an average of 2,821 new cases reported daily over the seven-day period from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2, an increase of eight percent from the previous week, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on Friday.
The latest data showed that an average of 1,540 people with COVID-19 were being treated in Canadian hospitals daily in the recent week, which was four percent lower than the previous week.
This included, on average, 465 people who were being treated in intensive care units (ICU), one percent less than the previous week and an average of 19 deaths were reported daily.
While the Delta variant continued to represent the vast majority of recent COVID-19 cases in Canada, as of Dec. 2, there had been 11 cases of the Omicron variant in the country's four populous provinces -- Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.
"As we continue to assess the significance and impact of this new VOC, Canadians are urged to remain vigilant and continue maintaining layers of protection," Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Theresa Tam said in a statement on Friday.
Ontario reported on Friday that a child was confirmed with the Omicron variant, the first child Omicron case in Canada.
The child recently traveled to South Africa with a family member. The child has two household members who have also tested positive for COVID-19, but the screen is not yet available for Omicron.
The Canadian government has signed deals with Pfizer and Merck to purchase their antiviral medications, pending its approval of the products.
Canadian Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi said on Friday that the government has placed an initial order for one million of Pfizer's antiviral pills, and 500,000 of Merck's pills, with an option for 500,000 more.
As of Friday evening, Canada reported 3,083 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing the cumulative total to 1,801,951 cases, including 29,751 deaths.
Source: Xinhua