TORONTO -- More than half of Canada鈥檚 COVID-19 patients have fully recovered from the virus, according to Canada鈥檚 Chief Public Health Officer, marking a new milestone in the first wave of the country鈥檚 outbreak.

As of Monday afternoon, public health officials had reported 77,306 COVID-19 cases, including 5,805 deaths. More than 38,828 or 50 per cent of those patients have now recovered, according to a statement released by Dr. Theresa Tam Monday.

Tam noted that Canadian labs have tested 1,319,000 people for COVID-19 to date, with five per cent testing positive. Officials are now testing an average of 26,000 to 28,000 people daily.

The national recovery rate fits into a larger trend of provinces seeing fewer deaths and more recoveries.

Quebec, the province worst hit by the pandemic, reported the fewest deaths since April 12. However, case numbers continue to rise, with officials recording a one-day increase of 707 cases on Monday.

Experts have asserted since the start of the pandemic that deaths would continue to spike even as the curve flattened and infection rates slowed. While some provinces have seen the curve begin to flatten in recent weeks, infection rates have only slightly slowed in Ontario and Quebec, which are often recording more than 400 and 700 new cases daily, respectively.

Although Tam highlighted the country鈥檚 positive recovery rate, the country鈥檚 top doctor says it鈥檚 essential that Canadians continue to follow best practices, including physical distancing measures, in order to continue flattening the curve.

鈥淚 recognize this ongoing vigilance has been challenging,鈥 Tam said in a statement in lieu of a daily in-person update to the media.

鈥淥ur actions and perseverance are so important to protect the progress we've made and give us the best chance of staying steady on our current downward trajectory.鈥

Experts say the number of recovered cases helps put the scale of the Canadian outbreak into context, while cautioning that one metric doesn鈥檛 tell the whole story.

鈥淚 think we should also be looking at other metrics that paint a picture that Canada's doing okay -- not amazing, not perfect -- but pretty good. And that includes the number of new cases per day that we鈥檙e seeing,鈥 Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist, told CTVNews.ca by phone Monday.

鈥淲e should also acknowledge that about 5,700 people did not recover鈥 it鈥檚 a small percentage, but it鈥檚 still a significant proportion.鈥

Bogoch notes that it鈥檚 difficult to use Canada鈥檚 recovery rate as a means of comparison for how we are faring compared to other countries experiencing outbreaks, noting that recovery is not measured the same in every jurisdiction -- including within Canada.

鈥淚n some places, you used to have two negative swabs in the nose to say you were recovered. Some people say it鈥檚 14 days from the onset of symptoms鈥 some say it鈥檚 10 days,鈥 he explained.

CTVNews.ca has contacted Public Health Canada for details on the criteria for deeming a COVID-19 case recovered and whether the provinces follow the same guidelines to make that declaration.

Overall, Bogoch said the current epidemiological summary points towards improvement for Canada鈥檚 outbreak, but notes it鈥檚 鈥渘ot time to pat ourselves on the back鈥 yet.

鈥淐anada is faring very well relative to the rest of the world. That doesn't mean we're perfect,鈥 he said.

鈥淚t's not time to pat ourselves on the back and say job well done, but we really are doing better than most others in the world.鈥濃