Canada sees surge in COVID-19 new cases

Covid-19 cases in Canada: Canada reported 1,514 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday evening, bringing the cumulative total to 1,437,701 cases, including 26,654 deaths, according to CTV.

The country’s seven-day moving average of 945 new cases reported daily (July 30-Aug. 5) showed an increase of 48 percent over the previous week.

The Delta variant currently accounts for the majority of new COVID-19 cases in Canada, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, reported 340 new cases on Friday, the highest single-day tally in Ontario since June 26.

Meanwhile, British Columbia recorded 464 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. The province announced it would reimpose a local mask mandate, as well as other public health measures last week due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the province’s Okanagan area.

The latest infections brought the province’s seven-day average to 279 cases per day, the highest since May, while active cases increased to a two-month high of 2,411.

With early signs of a Delta-driven wave of COVID-19, the PHAC said that “efforts to increase the proportion of fully vaccinated Canadians and reinforce individual precautions per local public health advice are crucial to reducing virus spread and lowering the risk of a resurgence that could lead to healthcare capacity being exceeded this coming fall and winter.”