Ottawa, (Samajweekly) Amid an unabated resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada, the country’s death toll due to the disease has surpassed the 20,000 grim milestone, according to authorities.
Canada’s death toll currently stands at 20,016, while the cases have increased to 782,467, Xinhua news agency reported.
Both Ontario and Quebec, the two most populous provinces in Canada, continue to account for the highest spikes in cases and deaths across the country.
The two provinces have recorded the most deaths with nearly 16,000 fatalities.
More than 6,180 people died in Ontario, while more than 9,700 died in Quebec.
The first Canadian death was reported on March 9, 2020, six weeks after the very first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Toronto.
Sunday’s fatalities come on the same day the Canadian government’s new travel restrictions went into effect.
On January 29, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the new measures against non-essential travel to stem the spread of Covid-19 and its variants.
Under the new measures, all Canadian airlines — Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat — have suspended all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean region until April 30 to discourage non-essential travel.
Starting from Thursday, all international flights can only land at airports in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal and all inbound air travellers will be required to stay for three days at a government-designated hotel for the Covid-19 test all at their own cost.
So far, Canada has administered 952,296 Covid-19 vaccine doses while more than 22 million tests have also been administered across the country.
But the country is grappling with vaccine delivery delays from Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna, which threaten to disrupt the country’s goal of having a majority of the country inoculated by September.
Trudeau said a majority of Canadians should expect to be vaccinated by September, though Canadian medical experts have since warned of provinces in the country not being able to reach that target anytime soon should the country’s current pace of vaccination continue.
