A patient is wheeled out from an ambulance to the hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 27, 2020. Canada's COVID-19 cases surpassed 550,000, with the total hitting 552,020, including 14,963 deaths, as of Sunday afternoon, according to CTV. Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, reported 2,005 new cases, bringing its total case count to 171,416 on Sunday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

 Canada's COVID-19 cases surpassed 550,000, with the total hitting 552,020, including 14,963 deaths, as of Sunday afternoon, according to CTV.

Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, reported 2,005 new cases, bringing its total case count to 171,416 on Sunday.

This marked the 13th straight day that the province had recorded more than 2,000 new cases.

In its first update since Christmas Eve, Quebec reported 6,783 new cases on Sunday.

Canada has confirmed two cases of the COVID-19 variant first detected in Britain.

The two confirmed cases are a couple from Durham Region in Ontario. The couple have no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts.

Ontario entered a province-wide lockdown on Saturday in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Canada banned all flights arriving from Britain on Dec. 20 until Jan. 6, 2021, in response to concerns about the COVID-19 variant.

In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada said as the two identified cases did not travel outside of Canada, it is important to follow public health measures and limit contact with others, to reduce the transmission of the virus and any of its variants in communities.