Canadian deputy prime minister announces self-isolation

OTTAWA -- Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday that she is isolating at home after receiving an exposure notification from Canada's COVID Alert app.

"Today, I had a COVID-19 test after I received a notification from the COVID Alert app. I am isolating at home while I wait for the results of the test," she said on Twitter.

Despite additional restrictions being re-imposed in Canada where the COVID-19 spread has rampaged up in past months, new cases have continued to sharply increase.

Canada reported 234,511 COVID-19 cases and 10,136 deaths as of Saturday afternoon, according to CTV.

Out of the 10 provinces, Ontario and Quebec both reported more than 1,000 new cases and Manitoba announced 349 new cases on Saturday.

On Saturday, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam re-called for a collective effort to stem the spike of COVID-19 and to lessen the burden on essential workers.

"Many of you have been on the front lines since the beginning, putting yourselves in harm's way," she said. "As individuals, we have an important role to play to minimize the COVID-19 burden on essential workers."

Tam also repeated her call for Canadians to adhere to public health guidelines, such as physical distancing, hand washing, wearing a face covering and using the COVID Alert app.

On Friday, Tam stressed that Canadians need to cut their contacts by 25 percent to get the second wave under control to the point where daily counts may drop below 2,000.

Without reducing the rates of contact, Canada could see COVID-19 case counts rise to 8,000 per day come early December, she said.

Canada has extended the travel ban for all non-US travelers another month to Nov 30.

Canadian Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said on Friday that the Canadian government is following the best public health guidance to make decisions regarding temporary travel restrictions, including extending the temporary border restrictions for both US and international travelers.