A man wearing a mask and a face shield gets on a bus in Toronto, Canada, on Sept. 17, 2020. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
Canada's two most populous provinces - Quebec and Ontario - reported surging numbers of COVID-19 cases on Monday. Quebec declared that the second wave of COVID-19 had begun in the province, urging residents to respect gathering limits and health guidelines in order to limit cases.
OTTAWA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The cases of COVID-19 gained steam in Canada as a total of 144,693 COVID-19 infections were reported in the country at noon Monday, including 9,223 deaths, according to CTV.
Provincial authorities continued to report COVID-19 outbreaks across the country, including in schools, workplaces and universities, CTV reported.
The country's two most populous provinces - Quebec and Ontario - reported surging numbers of COVID-19 cases on Monday. Quebec reported 586 cases, a jump of more than 100 compared with Sunday, while Ontario rose to 425 from 365 a day before.
Quebec declared on Monday morning that the second wave of COVID-19 had begun in the province.
People have their hands sanitized from a security officer as they line up to have COVID-19 tests outside a COVID-19 assessment center in Toronto, Canada, on Sept. 17, 2020. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
"I'm very, very very worried by the situation, to the point where I consider that now we may be in a second wave, we're in a second wave at its beginning," Horacio Arruda, Quebec's public health director, said at a press conference.
Arruda said the situation is serious all over the province, and that the population needs to respect gathering limits and health guidelines in order to limit cases.
"This second wave, we can transform it into a smaller wave than we experienced before, but if we don't make the effort, it can be even bigger than the first," he added.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that his government will announce its plan to deal with a second wave of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The jump in new cases is being driven by people under the age of 40, who are less likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19 but can still transmit the virus to others who are more vulnerable, according to the CTV report. ■
