Canada Canada’s cases of COVID-19 have surpassed 700K

© THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg A person wears a Santa hat and a mask in Kingston, Ontario on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues across Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg

Cases of COVID-19 in Canada have now surpassed 700,000, according to a Global News tally updated with the latest data from health officials.

The milestone came after Ontario reported another 3,056 cases Saturday. To date, a total of 701,466 infections have been detected in Canada, with both Ontario and Quebec recording the highest amount.

Read more: Canada on track for 10K COVID-19 cases a day, measures must be ‘further intensified’: feds

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Updated throughout the day on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Questions/comments: ariga@postmedia.com Top updates With hospitals ‘on brink of collapse,’ Ontario issues stay-at-home order that takes effect Thursday Canada orders extra 20M doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Maimonides records seven cases after first-dose vaccinations Quebec reports 1,934 cases, 47 deaths; 61 more in hospital Montreal-area restaurant seeks class action suit to recoup ‘abusive’ delivery fees Hospitals nearing critical triage point, when doctors must ‘kill people’ to save others Schools are spreading COVID-19 in Montreal, new study finds Over last two weeks, Quebec reported highest rate of deaths p

OTTAWA -- Canada ’ s COVID - 19 count has now surpassed 10, 000 confirmed cases across the country, with the largest cluster reported in Quebec. Latest reports out of Quebec show there are more than 4,500 cases of the virus in the province, while Ontario reports more than 2,700 confirmed

전세계 코로나19 확진자 70만 넘어…이틀만에 10만 증가 The number of confirmed COVID - 19 cases globally has soared past 700-thousand, with the total rising by 100-thousand over

A total of 17,850 deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been recorded in Canada as well, though over 607,900 patients have since recovered and at least 20,353,00 tests have been administered.

Cases of the virus continue to surge in communities across the country, with officials attributing the large number of social contacts Canadians had during the holidays.

The most recent modelling of the virus' spread -- presented by public health authorities Friday -- showed that Canada was on its way to surpassing 10,000 new cases of the virus per day by February.

According to Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, current measures would have to be "further intensified" in order to slow down the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus: 5 deaths, 79 new cases in London-Middlesex as province declares 2nd state of emergency

January, which is still less than halfway done, has seen at least 1,144 cases, according to the health unit. December, the worst month for cases, recorded a total of 1,723. Read more: Coronavirus: Ontario declares 2nd state of emergency, issues stay-at-home order Of the 79 new cases, health officials say three are still in the early stages of investigation and data will be made available about them with Wednesday's update.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg People wear disposable masks in Kingston, Ontario on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, as the COVID - 19 pandemic continues across Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg.

The COVID - 19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U. S . state of Arkansas in March 2020. The first case in Arkansas was reported on March 11, 2020, in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County.

Read more: Canada records over 6,800 new COVID-19 cases as officials announce vaccine delay

“If we ease measures too soon the epidemic will resurge even more strongly,” Tam said in a press conference Friday.

The modelling also found cases of the virus could potentially surge past 30,000 per day if Canadians increase their contact with each other by February.

Federal officials also revealed on Friday that shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the country would be delayed for four weeks due to production issues.

According to Procurement Minister Anita Anand, only half of Pfizer's promised vaccine doses would arrive in the next month because of the delay.

“This expansion work means that Pfizer is temporarily reducing deliveries to all countries receiving vaccine manufactured at its European facility — and that includes Canada,” Anand said.

Both Anand and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also reassured Canadians would not impact the country's long term vaccination plan, and that they would still have enough vaccines available by September for any Canadian who wanted to be inoculated.

Video: Coronavirus: Trudeau says Pfizer delay won’t impact September COVID-19 vaccination goal

As of Jan.14, at least 765,100 doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed across Canada.

More to come...

-- With files from Global News' Katie Dangerfield and Rachel Gilmore.