Canada's COVID-19 cases surpass 2.05 million amid raging Omicron variant

OTTAWA, Dec 29 -- Canada reported 22,219 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday noon, raising the cumulative whole to 2,057,489 cases with 30,199 deaths, Xinhua reported, quoting CTV.

COVID-19 cases continued to rise in Quebec, with the provincial government reporting 12,833 new cases and 15 additional deaths.

Quebec, with a population of 8.4 million, recorded 10,246 cases on Dec 22 and 10,713 on Dec 23.

Tuesday's new cases, a single-day high, elevated the cumulative cases to 559,270 with 11,629 deaths in Quebec.

The positivity rate was 26.8 per cent and the seven-day average came to 9,133 in the province.

As of Dec 27, a total of 7,260,432 Quebecers, or 89 per cent of the eligible population aged five and up, had received their first dose of a vaccine, and 6,657,312 people, or 82 per cent, had received two doses.

Of those eligible for a third dose, 1,087,425 Quebecers, or 13 per cent, have received it.

Ontario, the most populous province with a population of 14 million, reported 8,825 new cases and seven additional deaths on Tuesday.

The new cases brought the cumulative cases to 715,405 with 11,629 deaths in Ontario. The seven-day average for the number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario rose to 8,318.

Ontario's daily COVID-19 case count has been hovering between 9,000 and 10,000 in recent days.

Canada has seen a steep rise in COVID-19 cases due to the spread of the new Omicron variant throughout the month of December as more people move indoors and gather for holidays.

Recording more than two million COVID-19 cases, Canada is faced with mounting concerns over how the country's health systems will cope with an expected surge in cases after the holidays.

Some provinces in the country released updates regarding COVID-19 hospitalisations on Monday, which highlighted an increase in case numbers driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

-- BERNAMA