Canada asks people to cut social contact amid spike in Covid cases

Canada recorded its highest single-day increase in cases of coronavirus infection on Friday at 3,457, an increase of over 20% over a fortnight.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has asked citizens to reduce their social contacts by 25% as the country struggles to control a spiking second wave related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Protesters opposed to Covid-19 regulations hold signs and listen to speeches during a rally, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (AP)

Canada recorded its highest single-day increase in cases of coronavirus infection on Friday at 3,457, an increase of over 20% over a fortnight.

“If we increase, or if even maintain our current rate of contact, the epidemic in Canada is forecast to continue increasing steeply,” the country’s chief public health officer Dr Theresa Tam said, during the course of a media briefing on the situation.

To “bend the epidemic curve” and “reduce transmission to lower levels”, it was necessary to reduce the “number of contacts as much as possible,” she said.

She also released new modelling projections which indicated that at current levels of the infection rate, Canada could record approximately 262,000 cases by November 8, up from 231,753 currently, with another 300 fatalities. The death toll from the crisis in Canada is at 10,100 at present.