By Canadian Press

COVID-19 continues to surge in parts of Canada, new daily high reported in Ontario

Nov 7, 2020 | 2:48 PM

The number of COVID-19 cases continued to soar in parts of Canada on Saturday, with Ontario reaching a new one-day high and Quebec breaking past 1,000 daily infections for the fourth straight day.

Multiple spikes raised the national tally of confirmed cases to 258,454, nearly half of those in Quebec and about a third in Ontario.

That was largely driven by a record daily number of 1,132 new cases in Ontario, where officials also announced 11 new deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

In Quebec, more than 1,234 new cases and 29 more deaths were linked to the virus, with the Health Department saying 11 of those deaths came in the past 24 hours.

Troubling spikes have also been seen on the Prairies and West Coast in recent days. British Columbia’s provincial health officer and health minister were to hold a rare weekend news conference Saturday after hinting that fresh outbreaks could bring restrictions.

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B.C. reported 589 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, up from 425 on Thursday and 334 a day earlier.

Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam noted Saturday that several regions are “experiencing accelerated growth” and urged Canadians to step up containment efforts.

She pointed to an increasing number of people suffering severe COVID-19 illness as a worrisome trend that could further burden hospitals in the coming weeks, and warned that could be especially problematic as flu season starts.

“We need to retake the lead on COVID-19, by each reducing our close contacts to the best of our ability and employing key public health practices consistently and with precision,” Tam said in a statement.

Concern is also high in Manitoba, where the province recorded 271 new cases of the virus and seven new deaths — three linked to an outbreak at a Winnipeg personal care home, and two linked to an outbreak at the city’s Victoria General Hospital.

Another outbreak was reported at the Carman Memorial Hospital in southern Manitoba.

Winnipeg moved into the province’s red zone earlier this week and the southern health region is set to go red on Monday.

A new colour-coded assessment system has also launched in Ontario, where hot spots included Toronto, with 336 new infections, and Peel Region, with 258 new cases. Ottawa reported 78 new cases while Hamilton reported 55.

Only Peel Region, which has seen rising cases in recent weeks, was deemed a red zone, while other hot spots such as York Region and Ottawa were labelled orange.

Saturday’s daily case count surpassed the previous provincial daily high of 1,050 cases reported on Tuesday.

In Quebec, Premier Francois Legault urged residents Saturday to maintain efforts to keep COVID-19 at bay this winter. In an open letter, Legault thanked Quebecers for showing solidarity and expressed hope that grandparents will be able to see their grandchildren at Christmas.

Quebec officials have said they are especially concerned about Saguenay, north of Quebec City, and Lanaudiere, north of Montreal — regions Legault has dubbed “the worst” in Quebec on a per-capita basis.

On Saturday, Quebec’s hospitalizations decreased by 16 to reach 523, while one more patient was listed in intensive care for a total of 78.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2020.

The Canadian Press