Canada's daily COVID-19 cases continue to soar

Ottawa [Canada], December 23 (ANI/Xinhua): Canada reported 10,804 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday morning, bringing the cumulative total to 1,920,079 cases with 30,097 deaths, according to CTV.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to deliver an update on COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant is prompting more provinces to reinstate and tighten public health restrictions, according to the prime minister's office.
The update, usually scheduled for Fridays, comes amid a massive surge in case counts across Canada, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. On Tuesday, Canada saw a record increase of more than 11,000 new cases.
Quebec, a populous province with a population of 8.4 million in Canada, reported 6,361 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday morning, smashing the previous day's count -- the province's record to date -- by more than 1,000 cases.
Quebec marked a milestone on Wednesday, as it has officially had more than half a million confirmed infections over the course of the pandemic, which means about 6.25 percent of Quebecers have caught the virus or one in 16.
Quebec's test positivity rate, an important indicator of how much the virus is circulating, rose to 13.1 percent on Wednesday, a three-point jump from Tuesday's number.
It means that of the people who manage to get a PCR test right now, nearly one in eight are getting a positive result.
Ontario, the most populous province with a population of 14 million, reported 4,383 new cases Wednesday morning, which marks the highest daily case count since April 23, when the province confirmed 4,505 new cases.
Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 661,563, including deaths and recoveries.
Ontario's rolling seven-day average now stands at 3,520, up from 1,514 at this point last week and up from 940 two weeks ago.
Its positivity rate rose on Wednesday to 10.7 percent, which marks the highest rate since April 26 when it hit 10.9.
Of today's 4,383 new cases, 1,140 cases involved people who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 3,243 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.
Medical experts have said that the number of new cases in fully vaccinated individuals will rise as more people get the vaccine.
According to the province's epidemiology report, of the 4,383 new infections reported on Wednesday, 512 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.
It also recorded 478 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 1,912 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39. (ANI/Xinhua)