Canada on Wednesday implemented mandatory self-isolation for people arriving in the nation.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland initially said that the system would begin at midnight on Wednesday and require 14 days of isolation, but several hours later, government officials said the quarantine order had been in effect for more than 12 hours.
“It will be a legal obligation for people entering Canada from outside Canada,” Freeland said. “Essential workers are excluded.”
Penalties would be announced later, she said.
More than 1 million Canadians and permanent residents returned to the nation between March 14 and Friday last week, the Canada Border Services Agency said.
Truck drivers and healthcare workers crossing the border are exempted under the nation’s Quarantine Act, and Canada and the US had already closed their common border for all nonessential travel.
Canada relies on cross border trade for essential goods such as food and medicine.
People who have returned should be self-isolating at home, Freeland said, adding that it is critical to protect the health of Canadians and ultimately to ensure that the nation’s has as rapid an economic recovery as possible.
“If we can flatten the curve, then we can go back to normal life more quickly,” she said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced that his government would offer C$2,000 (US$1,395) per month, over the next four months, for workers who lose their income as a result of the pandemic.
Canada is facing a once-in-a-generation challenge, Trudeau said, adding that 1 million Canadians applied for employment insurance in a week.
“Help is on the way,” Trudeau said, adding that the new benefit is available to any Canadian who loses their job because of COVID-19, whether they are full-time, contract or self-employed.
The benefit also covers a person who is sick or quarantined, or looking after someone sick, he added.
Workers still employed but not receiving income because of the crisis are also eligible.
He said that his government would also implement long-promised tax credits for newspapers, where they can claim on up to 25 percent of wages.
Trudeau made the remarks outside his residence, where he is in isolation after his wife tested positive for the virus.
He says his wife is doing “much, much better,” and that he and his children have no symptoms.
Canada is testing 10,000 people a day and has tested more than 142,000 people.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS