Ottawa, March 22 (IANS) Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam announced that the country is witnessing a steady increase in the number of new cases of Covid-19 variants.

In its latest update on Sunday, the Public Health Agency of Canada said that as of March 18, a total of 4,499 variant cases have been reported, reports Xinhua news agency.

"In parts of Canada, variants of concern represent an increasingly high proportion of cases and are being associated with a greater number of outbreaks," Tam said in a statement on Sunday.

"Circulation of Covid-19 in younger, more mobile and socially-connected adults presents an ongoing risk for spread into high-risk populations and settings," she added.

On March 18, Canada's most populous province of Ontario, with a population of 14 million, declared that a third wave of the pandemic was underway due to increasing Covid-19 variant cases.

Canada has so far reported a total of 933,230 coronavirus cases, with 22,673 deaths.

The country's latest national-level data show a seven-day average of 3,297 new cases daily on March 12-18.

Currently, there are 34,283 active cases across the country.

While Covid-19 continues to impact people of all ages in Canada, infection rates are the highest among those aged 20-39 years of age, Tam said in Sunday's statement.

--IANS ksk/