Hello, Madam Chair and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this morning with respect to the public health issues associated with this particular study. I will start with a brief overview or update on COVID-19 in Canada.
As of today, we have more than 38,000 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and over 1,800 deaths reported. More than one third of these cases are of individuals over the age of 60. The virus has proven fatal in 4.5% of these cases. Over 600,000 people have been tested for COVID-19. Approximately 6.5% of those have tested positive for the virus.
It has now been just over 16 weeks since the first cluster of COVID-19 was identified in China. In Canada we identified our first case on January 15. We first began to see what we consider community-level transmission in mid-March, about March 15. In Canada at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, governments have taken extraordinary measures to respond to COVID-19.
Border measures are one example. Since February 3 the Public Health Agency of Canada has enacted a number of emergency orders under the Quarantine Act to minimize risk of exposure to COVID-19 in Canada, to reduce risks from other countries, to repatriate Canadians, and to strengthen measures at our borders to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in Canada. The result is that the ease of travel that so many of us have taken for granted has changed dramatically. Travel is now increasingly rare and is often associated with 14-day mandatory isolation or quarantine periods. This even includes some travel within Canada from province to province. This is a really extraordinary switch for us.
Physical distancing is one of the most important measures that have been put in place to control the spread of COVID-19. The need for physical distancing has changed the way we live and work and the way we interact with one another. Mass gatherings have now been prohibited. This has significantly changed the way we come together—in committee meetings, in how we celebrate and in how we mourn. The necessity to protect the more vulnerable members of our society has meant that we've not been able to see many of our family and friends for many weeks. That's a real challenge.
Schools have been closed. That impacts not only students but also parents and families. This has required and generated incredible creativity on the part of educators to support ongoing online learning.
In terms of our workforce, all but essential front-line workers have been instructed to stay home. Some non-essential workers are able to work from home, but many others aren't. This is having a very significant impact on individuals and families as well.
There are impacts on businesses. Many businesses have been closed or have had to significantly modify how they conduct their business, which is having a very significant impact across the board.
It is hard to conceive of all the ways our lives have changed, in such fundamental ways, over such a short period. All Canadians have taken extraordinary steps and made extraordinary sacrifices to bring us to the point where we feel we are seeing some signs that the outbreak may be slowing, at least in some parts of the country. Although the data reported in the coming days and weeks will continue to be critical in determining our trajectory, the rate of doubling of reported cases in Canada has slowed from doubling every three to four days, in the period of March 12 to 28, to doubling approximately every five to eight days, in the period of March 29 to April 10.
We are all anxious for life to return to normal. It is natural that any signs of the outbreak ebbing will give us hope for that return to normal. Unfortunately, we are still in a pandemic situation and we must remain vigilant. How we move forward will be critical. In the same manner that we increased our public health interventions over time, we will have to ease those interventions very carefully over time in a phased approach if we want to avoid a rebound effect of this outbreak.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is working with provincial and territorial governments to determine the safest way to resume many of our previously routine activities. In the meantime, we must stay the course.
At this point in time, the best advice of the Public Health Agency to Canadians remains to stay at home as much as possible. Most importantly, if you feel ill, practise physical distancing, practise good hand hygiene and practise good respiratory etiquette such as covering your mouth or nose with your arm or sleeve when coughing or sneezing and disposing of used kleenex as soon possible. Do all you can to protect others, particularly the most vulnerable in our society, from infection.
Thank you. I am happy to hear your questions.