Canada's top public health officials say the accelerating rate of growth of COVID-19 in Canada is concerning.
Dr. Theresa Tam says the situation will continue to escalate further unless both public health and personal preventive measures are strengthened.
She says that because daily reporting of cases only catch transmission in the past, actions taken right now are essential to keep the virus under control.
Meantime, Canada has now committed more than $1 billion to buy doses of COVID-19 vaccines after securing a fifth deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Canada has a deal in place to buy up to 72 million doses of their experimental vaccine candidate, which is just starting the second of three trial phases this month.
In all, Canada has committed $1 billion to buy at least 154 million doses of vaccines from five different companies, and most of that money will not be refunded even if the vaccines never get approved.