If 2020 has proven anything, it's that situations can change quickly and without warning. While the country was going at a good pace, Canada's COVID-19 cases took an abrupt jump this week. It was the highest increase in over a month.
According to data from Worldometers, 786 new positive results were reported on July 20. That's the highest that Canada's daily count has been in over a month.
The last time the new cases were higher was on May 29, when 906 were reported.
Recently, Alberta has seen a surge in their active cases, with 368 new ones pulling the total up to over 1,000 by July 20.
British Columbia also saw an increase over the weekend, despite having been in good shape before most other provinces.
Even with the rise in new cases across the country, the total of active ones took a precipitous drop down from over 27,000 to just under 4,800.
This is due to a change in how recoveries are reported in the province of Quebec, CTV News reports.
Provincial health officials said that they had changed their criteria so that anyone who tested positive but was no longer hospitalized was counted as "recovered" after 14 days.
The latest spike comes in the wake of more regions making masks mandatory in indoor spaces, particularly in Ontario.
However, there have also been more areas in Canada moving forward with their reopening plans, which include allowing for indoor dining at restaurants and bars.
Canada's Deputy Public Health Officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, noted in a recent press conference that these reopenings have a strong correlation with more young adults testing positive for COVID-19.
Health officials have continued to emphasize the importance of practicing good hand hygiene and doing your best to keep social distancing, even as restrictions are lifted.