Total COVID-19 cases in Canada: 7,457 diagnoses and 89 deaths (as of March 30, 7 p.m. ET)
- Alberta - 690 cases, 8 deaths (53 resolved)
- British Columbia - 970 cases, 19 deaths (396 resolved)
- Manitoba - 96 cases, 1 death (2 resolved)
- New Brunswick - 68 cases (2 resolved)
- Newfoundland and Labrador - 148 cases, 1 death (4 resolved)
- Northwest Territories - 1 case
- Nova Scotia - 127 cases (10 resolved)
- Ontario - 1,715 cases, including 33 deaths (431 resolved)
- Prince Edward Island - 18 cases (1 resolved)
- Quebec - 3,430 cases, 25 deaths (29 resolved)
- Saskatchewan - 176 cases, 2 deaths (8 resolved)
- Yukon - 5 cases
- CFB Trenton - 13 cases
Authorities in Canada are working to contain the spread of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization deemed a pandemic earlier this month.
Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said Sunday that this coming week will be crucial in the fight against the virus. It will give public health officials the time to see if Canada’s aggressive social distancing measures are helping slow the spread they’ve seen across the nation.
"I still think it's a little too early to tell because we are only at the end of March, but next week will be very important in terms of looking at those trends," said Tam.
Canada’s top doctor said officials will be focusing their attention on Alberta, Quebec and Ontario to see if those provinces will follow suit with British Columbia in reporting a decrease in the rate of new COVID-19 diagnoses. All four provinces have seen signs of community spread, meaning that health officials can’t identify the reason for infection for all their patients, such as travel or close contact with another COVID-19 patient.
On March 27, British Columbia’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that social distancing restrictions in the province have successfully helped slow the number of COVID-19 cases by as much of half.
"I'm trying not to over-call it, but I do believe we've seen a flattening, a falling-off of that curve," said Henry. "What we need, though, is for everybody to continue to pay attention to these [physical distancing] measures so we can continue to prevent transmissions in our communities ... for the coming weeks."
Provinces and territories around the country have ramped up their testing, leading to an increase in cases, but also delays in results that may not reflect the most recent measures that have been applied by officials and citizens, such as social distancing.
Officials say Canadians have contracted the disease while travelling in other countries from all over the world. Certain cases in Canada, which are linked to travel, have led to human-to-human transmission between close contacts. There have also been of signs of community spread in provinces such as Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
In order to contain the spread, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has restricted Canada’s borders, provinces and territories have declared states of emergencies, while people returning back to Canada must self-isolate for 14 days upon return under the Quarantine Act.
Those who don’t need to necessarily isolate are still being asked to practice social distancing. It involves keeping at least two metres away from others in social settings and staying home when possible in order to limit the spread.
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