As of July 20, 2020 (07:00 p.m.), according to Public Health Canada there are 111,124 confirmed cases, [XX] probable cases, 97,474 recovered and 8,858 deaths of COVID-19 in Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html).
The Public Health Agency of Canada is working with provinces, territories and international partners, including the World Health Organization, to actively monitor the situation. Global efforts are focused on the containment of the pandemic and the prevention of further spread but have not officially declared a state of emergency regarding COVID-19. The risk to Canadians is now considered high.
This does not mean that all Canadians will get the disease. It means that there is already a significant impact on our health care system. If we do not flatten the epidemic curve now, the increase of COVID-19 cases could impact health care resources available to Canadians.
Although the government has taken certain broad and extraordinary measures already (which will be discussed later in context), on March 17, 2020, the federal government stated that they are reviewing The Emergencies Act (Canada) to see if a state of emergency should be declared so that they can take even more special temporary measures to ensure safety and security during national emergencies and to amend other Acts in consequence thereof. However, Canada is making unprecedented use of the federal Quarantine Act in a bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation gives the federal health minister sweeping powers to stop the spread of communicable diseases either in or out of Canada. Those measures include everything from routine screenings conducted by quarantine officers at airports to the sort of mandatory isolation orders issued on March 25, 2020. The order states that effective March 26, 2020, 12:00 p.m., all travellers returning to Canada are now legally required to go into self-isolation for 14 days rather than simply urged to do so.
The legislation contains a wide range of penalties for those flouting the law. Someone violating direct instructions and potentially placing the public at risk of a communicable disease can face a fine of up to $1 million and as many as three years in prison. Travellers must not use public or private transit to get home but only federal allocated transportation.
