3:10 p.m. ET, October 9, 2020
Canada's Trudeau: "We're at a tipping point in this pandemic"
From CNN’s Paula Newton in Ottawa
Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, October 9. Trudeau is set to announce support for businesses, as cases of Covid-19 surge in parts of the country.
David Kawai/Bloomberg/Getty Images
More closures and restrictions were announced in Canada on Friday as new, daily cases of Covid-19 doubled in less than three weeks.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and public health officials released new modeling Friday that showed a further doubling of new, daily cases was possible within weeks if people don’t begin to restrict their contacts by about a third.
“We're at a tipping point in this pandemic. Not only is the second wave underway, yesterday we hit the highest daily recorded cases, well above what saw this spring,” said Trudeau during a news conference in Ottawa Friday.
Ontario joined the province of Quebec Friday with targeted closures in its largest urban centers that include a ban on dine-in restaurants and the closure of bars. Both Toronto and Montreal, Canada’s two largest cities have now shuttered restaurants and bars as hospitalizations increase.
Trudeau pleaded with Canadians to stay home as much as possible, especially during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday coming up this weekend.
“We need people to do everything they can to prevent transmission of this virus. Stay home as much as possible, listen to the public health advice, download the COVID alert app, wear a mask and really, really, pull together and lean back by stepping apart these coming weeks,” he said adding, “We flattened the curve before, we can do it again.”
Trudeau said more targeted closures, instead of a lockdown, are now possible during this second wave because more is known about how the virus is transmitted. Public health officials pointed out that while the majority of Canadian children are attending classes in-person, so far, schools have not been a significant source of transmission.
But Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, warned that while the vast majority of new cases have been detected in Canadians under the age of 40, the virus is again gaining a foothold in vulnerable long-term care centers and that is now putting more pressure on hospitals.
"We are now observing an increase in hospitalizations in some regions and the overall number of Covid-19 cases in hospital per day has more than doubled, from 380 cases at the time of our last update to 820 cases in hospital yesterday," she said at the news conference.