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Joly didn’t explain why they were waiting to make the announcement.

The ministerial meeting came the same day that the country’s top public health official, Dr. Theresa Tam, said quick action was needed to prevent the outbreak’s most damaging effects.

“Our window to flatten the curve of the epidemic is narrow,” Dr. Theresa Tam said at a news conference. “We all need to act now. COVID-19 is a serious public health threat.”

If people don’t stay home in an effort to “social distance,” the virus will spread so quickly that too many people will need urgent medical care at once, she said.

Over the weekend, the number of confirmed cases in Canada climbed from 197 to 341.

Tam repeated previous government messages about avoiding large public gatherings, practising social distancing and avoiding travel outside of Canada. She also said Canadians returning from trips abroad should immediately go into self-isolation for 14 days rather than simply self-monitoring.

But in Quebec, the premier took a more hard-line approach.

“We have to limit outings,” Francois Legault said at a briefing. “We should go out only to work, buy bread, go to the pharmacy, get health care, take a walk or go help people age 70 and up.”

Meanwhile, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health said there was evidence of community transmission in the province.

“Until now, all cases in Alberta had been travel-related or close contact with a returning traveller,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said. “These two cases mean that there are other cases in the community that we haven not identified, increasing the likelihood that Albertans may be exposed within their communities.”