Canada crossed the threshold of 20,000 deaths on Sunday, January 31 since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, about a year ago.
31 deaths announced in Quebec and 43 in Ontario have raised in Canada the bar of 20,000 deaths, the death toll being 20,016 deaths on Sunday, according to figures from the provinces and territories, reported by the public channel CBC.
Quebec, the province with the heaviest death toll, has so far recorded 9,794 deaths and Ontario, the most populous province, 6,188. Canada, a country of some 38 million inhabitants, had 777,561 confirmed cases of Covid on Sunday. since the start of the pandemic.
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Canada's chief public health officer, Dr Theresa Tam, noted on Saturday
"a recent downward trend in the number of daily cases"
.
But she warned against the temptation to relax, saying it was
"essential to maintain strict measures to sustain this downward trend in a lasting way"
.
"There is a risk that the trends will reverse quickly and some parts of the country will see increased activity
," she said in a statement.
Canadian authorities, fearing in particular the spread of variants of the virus, announced on Friday a strengthening of control measures on entry into Canada.
Travelers will be required to undergo a PCR test on arrival and a three-day "quarantine" at a hotel, at their own expense, while awaiting the test result.
They will then have to continue a quarantine of 14 days at home, in the event of a negative test, and in a public health center in the event of a positive result.