Ottawa, Oct 22 (IANS): Canada has confirmed 21,188 new Covid-19 cases for the week ending October 15, health authorities announced.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said on Friday that the number of total Covid-19 cases and deaths have now reached 4,314,718 and 46,025, respectively, reports Xinhua news agency.

The country's chief public health officer, Theresa Tam, said at the House of Commons health committee earlier this week that she was preparing for "worst-case scenario" COVID-19 variants as early signs showed a fall resurgence of the virus.

Tam said the PHAC is keeping a careful eye on the evolution of Omicron variants, which are the most common sub-variants in the country.

She said that in the early days of the pandemic, the virus would mutate in all sorts of ways because there was no immunity from previous infection or vaccines.

According to Health Canada, vaccination continues to be one of the most effective tools to protect against Covid-19, and getting booster doses as recommended will help protect individuals against serious illness and other complications from the infection.