Canada reported 23,585 new Covid-19 cases on a daily basis for the first time, bringing the total number of cases to 2,094,042 with 30,231 deaths, according to the state news agency reports.

Daily cases in Canada have recently reached new highs as the novel Omicron variant of Covid-19 spirals out of control, stranding workers at home and overwhelming testing centres. On Wednesday, the province of Quebec recorded the highest daily Covid-19 case count, with 13,149 new cases and 10 new deaths. The overall number of illnesses in the province has risen to 572,419, with 11,702 deaths.

Meanwhile, hospitalizations in the province continue to rise at a faster rate, with a net increase of 102 and seven additional intensive care beds occupied by Covid-19 patients, while the test positivity rate increased to 28%, meaning that more than one in every four PCR tests in the province came back positive.

When the Omicron variant was identified, the Quebec government announced that 800 hospital beds had been set aside for Covid-19 patients across the province in case of a big outbreak. On Wednesday, there were 804 patients in hospitals across the province.

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