Canada surpasses 15,000 COVID-19 deaths

Canada has surpassed 15,000 deaths related to COVID-19.

The grim milestone was reached with the reporting of 37 new deaths in Quebec Monday.

A total of 15,001 Canadians have now died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began earlier this year.

Of the 37 new deaths, Quebec health officials say seven took place in the last 24 hours, 27 occurred between Dec. 21 and Dec. 26, and three are from unspecified dates.

Federal modelling data released earlier this month projected Canada would see up to 14,920 deaths by Christmas.

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The news comes after a contagious new strain of the virus was found in two more parts of the country on Sunday.

B.C. detected its first case of the mutation Sunday. The infected person had travelled from the U.K. on Dec. 15, before passenger flights from there to Canada were suspended.

Three cases of the variant have been identified in Ontario as of Monday morning.