Canada establishes cabinet committee on COVID-19

A man wearing a face mask is seen outside the Allianz Stadium, after five Serie A matches were postponed because of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, in Turin, Italy, Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Federico Tardito/Xinhua)

The Canadian government announced the creation of a new cabinet committee on COVID-19 Wednesday for the wellbeing and safety of all Canadians.

In a statement, the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office said the cabinet committee will complement the work being done by the Incident Response Group.

“It will meet regularly to ensure whole-of-government leadership, coordination, and preparedness for a response to the health and economic impacts of the virus. This includes coordination of efforts with other orders of government,” the office said in the statement.

“We continue to monitor very closely and co-ordinate with our provincial partners, with the international community, on the best things that Canada can do to keep Canadians safe and to prevent further spread of this virus,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday.

The prime minister stressed that the committee will be tasked with coordinating Canada’s response, making sure that Canadians are getting the best information and monitoring the economic and health impacts.

A woman wearing mask walks on street in Sydney, Australia, on March 2, 2020. Australia’s first person-to-person transmissions of COVID-19 were confirmed in the State of New South Wales (NSW) on Monday, with two people contracting the disease while on Australian soil. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

In the past few days, Canada confirmed two to four new COVID-19 cases every day. It reported six new cases Tuesday, the highest number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began. It brought the total to 33 in the country.