Canada officially recommends wearing face masks

The Public Health Agency of Canada has made an official recommendation that citizens of the country should wear non-medical face masks.

"If you can't predict whether you can maintain that two-meter distance, then it's recommended that you wear the non-medical mask or facial covering," Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Tam said the agency will be posting the updated recommendations on medical masks online, reports Xinhua news agency.

Before Tam's official announcement of the recommendation, CTV showed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was entering Parliament, wearing a black face mask.

"In situations where I am either walking through the halls of parliament or going to my office and coming in proximity to people, I've chosen to start wearing a mask," Trudeau said.

"That's my personal choice, that is aligned, I think, with what public health is recommending. I think we all need to adjust to what works in our circumstances and keep safety at the forefront of what we're doing."

Mask wearing has been the subject of debate in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

On the recommendation, Tam said public health advice is evolving based on the science and on steps provinces are taking to reopen their economies.

"We need to flexibly change our measures as we get more information."

So far, there have been 80,081 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,027 deaths in the country.