Article content

Canada’s top doctor suggested Wednesday the country is already facing community spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 due to the large spike in cases over the past week.

FOLLOW OUR NEW LIVEBLOG: CANADIAN CASES PASS 700 AS TRUDEAU SET TO ADDRESS THE NATION

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Coronavirus updates: 655 COVID-19 cases as community spread begins, Canada's top doctor says Back to video

“What is most concerning is that over the past week, we start to see a sharp rise in cases and a number of provinces have reported cases with no links to travel,” Dr. Theresa Tam said. “This is a signal there is some degree of community spread. So our time to act is now.”

A tally by the Canadian Press shows there are 655 cases of COVID-19 in the country.

Quebec is reporting its first death from COVID-19. Premier Francois Legault says the death was an elderly person from the Lanaudiere region, northeast of Montreal.

Follow below for more minute-by-minute COVID-19 updates from Canada and around the world.