Canada coronavirus death toll jumps, PM Trudeau predicts crisis to last months
The Canadian death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped almost 50% percent to 19 in less than a day and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau predicted on Sunday the crisis would last for months.
By : migrator
Update: 2020-03-22 17:18 GMT
Ottawa said late on Saturday that 13 people had died from the respiratory illness caused by the virus, but by 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT) on Sunday that number had grown to 19.
The number of confirmed cases rose to 1,302 from 1,099, with a further 69 people listed as probably suffering from the highly contagious virus.
Canada has already closed its borders to all but essential travel and announced a C$27 billion aid package for the people and businesses most affected by the crisis.
“These are only a very first step — we’re looking now at what those next steps are to ensure that our economy is able to pick up again once we’re through this, whether it takes weeks or months. It is likely to take months,” Trudeau told reporters.
Trudeau said the House of Commons would return on Tuesday to approve the stimulus package. A minimum of 20 members of Parliament are needed to conduct business and officials said it was likely 32 legislators would be present.
Trudeau said Ottawa was looking at a range of other measures to help the economy but declined to give details.
The government is urging people to practice self-isolation but has yet to invoke emergency powers to clamp down on the movement of citizens, despite evidence on social media that some people are ignoring orders to avoid gathering in large crowds.
Nova Scotia on Sunday became the latest of Canada’s 10 provinces to declare a state of emergency, closing its borders to non-residents and threatening to arrest those who did not practice self-distancing.
Premier Stephen McNeil told a news conference that despite warnings to avoid meeting in large groups, people were flocking to provincial parks and other common areas.
“We are dealing with a deadly virus and this behavior is unacceptable,” he said. His Atlantic province is banning gatherings of more than five people, a much stricter limit than other jurisdictions.
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