On Thursday, Canada reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day – breaking a record set earlier in the year -as British Columbia and Alberta both broke new daily records two days in a row.
According to British Columbia’s Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the spike in cases can be attributed to social gatherings, such as occurred during Canada’s Thanksgiving holiday.
“Much of the recent surge that we have seen in new cases in B.C in the last couple of weeks is directly linked to social events,” she said during a news conference. “These events have caused clusters and outbreaks that have now spilled over into our health-care system.”
Dr. Henry also noted that contact tracers are finding that some people are not sticking to COVID-19 safety plans. She earned that additional measures could be introduced if transmission continues, such as restrictions tied to weddings and funerals, reports CBC Canada.
There are 1,920 active cases in the province, with 4,425 people in self-isolation due to COVID-19 exposure.
Alberta’s Health Officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, in her provincial update, said: “The leading source of exposures for active cases right now are close contacts, and many of the cases that we are seeing now are the result of spread over Thanksgiving when families gathered together.”
Quebec continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic adding over a thousand new cases for the sixth time in seven days. Ontario, the second hardest-hit province, registered more than 800 new cases on Thursday.
As of October 23, 2020, Canada has 211,891 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 9,916 deaths.
The United States sets a new record for coronavirus cases
NBC News is reporting that 77,640 new cases were reported in the U.S. on Thursday, up from the previous record of 75,723 on July 29. There were 921 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, as of October 23, the U.S. has recorded 8,413,274 cases of the coronavirus, along with 223,087 deaths. The U.S. continues to lead the world in both the number of cases of COVID-19, as well as having the highest death toll from the virus.
Most of the increase is centered in the Midwest. States like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin have recorded rises in case numbers in the last two weeks.
California has the highest number of cases with 893,000 people diagnosed, followed by Texas and Florida, with over 871,000 cases and over 768,000 cases, respectively, according to ABC News.
