Article content

Giving an update Friday on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Deputy Chief Public Health officer Howard Njoo urged people to continue social distancing and stay within their “bubbles.”

So far, Canada has 4,043 confirmed cases of the virus, including 39 deaths, he said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or COVID-19 in Canada: Six per cent of cases need hospital care, one per cent are fatal Back to video

Njoo said these figures are based on up-to-the-minute laboratory testing results. However, he asked Canadians to remember that there are many other people being tested at present, so just because your area has not yet recorded a COVID-19 case, that does not mean the virus is not present where you live or work.

Njoo said that so far, officials have tested more than 165,000 people across Canada, a figure 65,000 higher than the one given on Monday. That’s more than 4,300 per million people, he said, one of the highest rates of testing in the world.

He said the percentage of people who have needed hospital care is about six per cent; 2.5 per cent are critically ill; and so far one per cent of cases are proving fatal.