Trudeau says Canada handled coronavirus pandemic better than US
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has claimed that Canada handled the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic better than the US.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, the prime minister said that Canada has managed to control the virus better than other countries and is in a good position to successfully restart the economy.
“We were able to control the virus better than many of our allies, particularly including our neighbour,” he told reporters.
Canada is a tenth of the size of the US. It has so far recorded at least 106,167 Covid-19 cases and 8,711 deaths, while its neighbour has announced more than three 3 million cases and 131,336 fatalities, according to Reuters.
The US has seen a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases in the past month, following a period where they fell, and has recorded more than 50,000 positive results over multiple single days in the last week.
Mr Trudeau added that coronavirus outbreaks are “stabilising in Canada because Canadians did their part and followed public health instructions”, according to CNN.
“But we still have to be very careful,” he added. “Things can change quickly ... we still have some hot spots in some parts of the country, including in long-term care facilities and agricultural work settings.
“So as we continue to gradually reopen the economy, we have to remain vigilant.”
Speaking at a separate briefing, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo echoed Mr Trudeau’s comments and warned that social distancing measures will need to continue.
“If we relax too much or too soon, the epidemic will most likely rebound, with explosive growth as a distinct possibility,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Later in his press briefing, the prime minister said that he speaks to president Donald Trump “reasonably regularly” and said he will congratulate him on an updated trade deal agreed between the two countries and Mexico.
The free trade agreement came into effect on 1 July, and President Trump welcomed Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the White House on Wednesday to commemorate it.
The Associated Press reported that Mr Trudeau declined an opportunity to join the two presidents, as Canada’s coronavirus rules would have forced him to quarantine for 14 days once he returned.
