国际英语新闻:Canada hits milestone of 200,000 COVID-19 cases

OTTAWA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Canada hit a milestone on Monday with 200,039 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 9,772 deaths, according to CTV.

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Theresa Tam said on Monday that though the numbers are high and continue to increase at an accelerated pace, it is important to remember that the vast majority of Canadians remain susceptible to COVID-19.

"We all need to continue with individual precautions to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safer," said Tam in a statement.

As the resurgence of COVID-19 activity continues, Canada is tracking a range of epidemiological indicators to monitor where the disease is most active, where it is spreading and how it is impacting the health of Canadians and public health, laboratory and healthcare capacity, Tam said.

She also said that as hospitalizations and deaths tend to lag behind increased disease activity by one to several weeks, the concern is that Canada has yet to see the extent of severe impacts associated with the ongoing increase in COVID-19 disease activity.

"Our primary goal for the pandemic response remains to minimize severe illness and deaths due to COVID-19. Public health is focussed on making the response sustainable through to the end of the pandemic while balancing the health, social and economic consequences," she added.

The Canadian government announced on Monday the Canada-U.S. border closure agreement has been extended for another month to Nov. 21.

The agreement banning non-essential travel was first imposed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been renewed every month since.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday the situation in the United States continues to be of concern. "We'd love to have the border open, but we can't do that unless we're comfortable that Canadians are being kept safe."