Number of COVID-19 Cases in Canada Exceeds 37,300 With 1,728 Fatalities - Health Agency

TORONTO (Sputnik) - The number of Canadians confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease has increased to 37,382, with the virus-related death toll rising to 1,728, updated data from Canada’s Public Health Agency revealed on Tuesday.

The Canadian authorities logged almost 2,000 new additional novel coronavirus cases and 117 more deaths in the last 24 hours, the data indicated.

The death toll has again exceeded the health authorities’ projections. Officials revised their projections last week - amid an alarming trend of outbreaks in long-term care facilities across the country - anticipating up to 1,620 coronavirus-induces deaths by 21 April. Half of the reported deaths have been attributed to care homes.

The province of Quebec remains the epicentre of the outbreak in Canada, accounting for more than half of all confirmed cases - 19,319 - and 939 deaths.

On Monday, health experts that the COVID-19 outbreak in the province appears to have peaked.

The World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 11 March. To date, 2.5 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide, of which more than 171,000 have succumbed to the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.