Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government began preparing for a possible pandemic as soon as it received the first alert about a mysterious cluster of pneumonia cases in China on New YearB次元官网网址檚 Eve.

Trudeau is defending his government against accusations it didnB次元官网网址檛 act fast enough to warn Canadians about the danger COVID-19 posed to their health and the economy.

This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is accused of downplaying the danger of the novel coronavirus while privately telling journalist Bob Woodward in early February, during an interview for his book, he knew it was much worse than the flu.

B次元官网网址淓very step of the way, we were informed by our experts as to how to keep Canadians safe B次元官网网址� what needed to be done, what measures would be helpful in continuing to support Canadians as we were aware of this potential,B次元官网网址� Trudeau said Friday during a news conference in Gogama, Ont.

B次元官网网址淏ut as people know, we were very much learning on the way as we responded.B次元官网网址�

A briefing note prepared in May for federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu says Canada got its first warning of a potential new virus on Dec. 31, 2019. That was when the Global Public Health Intelligence Network alerted the Public Health Agency of Canada of a mystifying cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China that appeared to be linked to a new virus.

Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, met with her provincial counterparts two days later to update them and begin forming a Canadian response plan. CanadaB次元官网网址檚 first case B次元官网网址� a man who had been in Wuhan B次元官网网址攃ame Jan. 25. On Jan. 30, Canada warned against travel to China. Travellers coming from China were asked to isolate for two weeks after arriving.

Similar warnings were added for Iran and Italy in early March as the pandemic surged in those countries.

But Hajdu and Tam continued to tell Canadians the risk of getting COVID-19 in Canada was low until at least March 10. The border remained open until March 16, when all non-essential travellers except Americans were barred entry. The Canada-U.S. border restrictions were added March 21.

Until March 24, the majority of new COVID-19 cases in Canada were in people who had travelled outside the country.

Conservative health critic Michelle Rempel Garner said Friday that Hajdu should be fired for not doing more earlier. As of Friday, Canada has had 134,924 positive COVID-19 cases and 9,163 deaths.

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B次元官网网址淚f action had been taken three months earlier, would things be different,B次元官网网址� said Rempel Garner. B次元官网网址淢inister Hajdu has demonstrated dangerous incompetence. So why is she still in charge of CanadiansB次元官网网址� health and safety?B次元官网网址�

Tam said the decisions were made as the information warranted. On March 10, when the message to Canadians was that the virus was not spreading in Canadian communities yet, about 80 people had tested positive, almost all of them people who had travelled. Six provinces had yet to confirm a single case.

Two weeks later, the number of domestic cases exceeded travel cases and every province had started to see them.

Tam said the information about the virus was changing rapidly, but the work in Canada was constant.

B次元官网网址淓ver since we got information about the cluster of pneumonia in Wuhan, domestic preparedness already began to escalate,B次元官网网址� she said.

Lab testing was one of the first priorities, to ensure Canadian labs could actually test people for COVID-19. In February, she said, provinces and territories were warned B次元官网网址渢he window for preparedness was closing,B次元官网网址� Tam said.

But she said within Canada, the risk of local transmission was still very low and that was why that advice continued to be given until mid-March.

B次元官网网址淎s weB次元官网网址檝e seen with this pandemic things change very rapidly, so very soon after (March 10) lots of public health measures evolved and escalated at every level of public health in Canada,B次元官网网址� she said.

On travel advice, Tam said the initial warnings pertained to countries with significant outbreaks but noted when the worldwide travel ban came March 16, it was the first time it had ever been done and before many nations had any cases.

B次元官网网址淭hat was quite a significant move,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e were not waiting for a country that hasnB次元官网网址檛 announced any cases to provide that advice.B次元官网网址�

Tam and Trudeau also warned this week that itB次元官网网址檚 up to Canadians whether there is a significant second wave of the virus, after cases continued to creep up.

The daily average case number over the previous week is now 618, up from 545 on Monday, and 435 on Aug. 31.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

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