Trudeau predicts 'tough winter,' deaths top 10,000
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday predicted a "tough winter" when confronted with a second wave of COVID-19 infections engulfing a lot of the country, and called it a horrific national tragedy as deaths topped the 10,000 mark.
Canada's case numbers have already been rising, triggering new restrictions on public gatherings and indoor activities in several provinces. On Tuesday, Canada recorded 2,674 new cases, while there are now 10,001 deaths and a complete of 222,887 cases. "This sucks. It certainly, really does," Trudeau told a news conference when asked about the fatigue Canadians feel after living amid the pandemic for a lot more than seven months.
The comments marked a rare show of emotion and frustration from Trudeau, who has regularly given nationally televised briefings to reassure Canadians that his Liberal government is managing the crisis as best it could. "What we you live through is a horrific national tragedy. Families have lost loved ones, been devastated by these tragedies, and we have to know that there are more tragedies to come," Trudeau said.
Quebec, Canada's second-most populous province, on Monday extended a shutdown of bars, gyms and restaurant dining rooms in hot spots like Montreal, with new cases to arrive at about 1,000 each day.The province, the country's hardest-hit region, reported 963 cases on Tuesday and 19 deaths from COVID-19.
Alberta on Monday limited social gatherings to 15 people, and British Columbia also imposed more restrictions on the quantity of individuals who could meet at one time after a spike in new cases there over the weekend. "My 6-year-old asked me a couple weeks ago: 'Dad, is COVID-19 forever?'" Trudeau said, saying it was "frustrating" to simply tell him he cannot go trick-or-treating this year. "This is actually difficult."
"It's frustrating understanding that unless we're really, really careful, there might not be the varieties of family gatherings we want to have at Christmas," he added.But he also said things would get better and that the federal government would be there to greatly help out, while urging Canadians to accomplish their part to limit the spread of the condition. "It's going to be a tough winter," he said, but "spring and summer should come and they'll be better".
