Ottawa, Jan 10 (IANS) Amidst a continuing second wave of the pandemic, Canada’s Covid-19 caseload has increased to 650,922, while the death toll stood at 16,788, according to health authorities.
The country’s national-level data on January 1 to 7 indicated a daily average of 7,672 new cases, and many areas continued to experience high infection rates, Xinhua news agency quoted the Public Health Agency of Canada as saying on Saturday.
Hospitalisations and deaths were increasing in the country.
Provincial and territorial data indicated that on average 4,336 people with Covid-19 were being treated in Canadian hospitals each day from January 1 to 7, added the agency.
Ontario reported 3,443 new cases on Saturday after the province released record-breaking numbers with 4,249 new cases on Friday.
On Saturday, Quebec province confirmed 3,127 new cases, which shattered the record of 2,869 new cases set on January 2, well above the seven-day average of 2,685.
The province’s latest count of Covid-19 cases stood at 226,233.
Meanwhile, Quebec kicked off a month-long curfew that started at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Police will have the power to stop anybody outdoors between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Those without a valid reason to be out between those hours could face fines of C$1,000-6,000.
On Saturday morning, Quebec Premier Francois Legault noted that imposing an overnight curfew was a difficult, but necessary decision in order to limit the chances of residents gathering illegally.
“The main reason for the curfew is to prevent gatherings, even the smallest ones,” said Legault.
“It’s the addition of all the small breaches of the rules that feed the virus.”
Despite official health guidelines against Covid-19 demanding non-essential travel should be avoided, more than 4,253 Canadians visited Hawaii by both direct and connecting flights between December 1, 2020 and January 7, 2021, CTV reported on Saturday.
–IANS
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