OTTAWA—It’s still just an appeal. But now it comes with a warning.

If Canadians fail to self-isolate and practise social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, governments will force them to, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said on Saturday.

These measures prevent others from getting sick and will likely be needed for “months,” Hajdu said, as researchers around the world race to find a cure for the deadly virus. They need to be followed, or else governments will step in to enforce them, she said.

“When people are playing loose and hard with the rules like this, it does actually put our civil liberties in jeopardy. It makes governments have to look at more stringent measures to actually contain people in their own homes,” she told reporters on Parliament Hill.

“I would encourage Canadians to think about that and to think about their obligation to act collectively right now.”

Hajdu’s warning came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed on Saturday that Canadians should avoid all trips outside their homes — including to visit neighbours or leave their home provinces — to contain the spread of the new coronavirus that has killed more than 11,000 people around the world since it emerged in China three months ago.

Trudeau said his government still isn’t willing to restrict movement through the federal Emergencies Act, but he stressed again Saturday that Ottawa will take whatever steps are necessary to protect Canadians from the deadly virus.

Under the Emergencies Act, the federal government has the power to restrict movement, regulate the distribution of essential goods, establish hospitals and more under a public emergency declaration.

The “key issue” in deciding whether to take a more aggressive response will be if the government needs the Emergencies Act to do things that it can’t otherwise do, Trudeau said.

“I want to thank the millions upon millions of Canadians who have self-isolated, who are engaged in social distancing,” Trudeau said.

“We have not removed from the table any options… At this time, we do not see the federal emergencies act as an essential tool today,” he said.

Later Saturday, the Business Council of Canada — an organization that represents companies employing 1.7 million people — wrote an open letter to Trudeau, urging the government to more strictly enforce its calls for social distancing and isolation.

“Governments have it in their power to reduce the death toll — but only if they act aggressively, with speed and scale,” the letter says.

“We urge you and the leaders of the provinces and territories to speak clearly and with one voice. Beginning immediately, all Canadians should be told, not asked or advised, to stay at home unless their jobs are essential or they must leave the home to purchase food and other necessities.”

More than 1,000 Canadians have now been infected with COVID-19, while world-wide cases of the virus have surpassed 275,000, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, said on Saturday.

As provincial governments declare states of emergency and force the closure of bars, restaurants, theatres and more, the federal government has shut the border to irregular asylum seekers, and foreign nationals trying to visit for tourism and recreation.

While Hajdu suggested governments are open to stricter enforcement beyond their appeals to stay home, the health minister also said restrictions on inter-provincial travel is a “live issue” in government discussions.

But she cautioned any restrictions — like those on travel between the U.S. and Canada — need to allow for essential trade and services to continue.

“It does not make sense from my perspective as a health minister to put an entire country on lockdown if, in fact, we don’t have the need to do so from a science perspective,” she said.

“People still need to eat. We still need things to get across the country from place to place… Will there be additional measures? There very well might be. But at this point those conversations are ongoing and it’s still too early to hypothesize about what those might be.”

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Public health officials have said the aim of social distancing and isolation is to “flatten the curve” by slowing the spread of the virus, while researchers around the world race to test potential treatments and try to find a cure. The goal is to slow the rate of infections in Canada so that hospitals and critical care units — with their limited life-saving equipment and personnel — aren’t overwhelmed with a flood of sick patients.

The federal government has pumped more than $300 million into Canadian research so far, Hajdu said, adding she was “astounded” by the number of applications for COVID-19 research funding that her department received when they put out their initial call to scientists a few weeks ago.

The World Health Organization said on Friday that at least 20 clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine have already started across the globe, though Hajdu cautioned that it could take “12 to 18 months” before such a treatment is widely available — even as she hopes for a “miraculous” breakthrough.

“Everybody is searching for the cure,” both through vaccines and any other medical treatments to treat symptoms, Hajdu said.

She added that Canada believes it needs to be involved in this global push in order to guarantee citizens of this country and people around the world have shared access to effective treatments or a cure when they become available.

“We need to be at the ground level of developing the vaccine and part of that global participation. And the more that countries share their knowledge and their research… the more likely that it will be a shared solution and the more likely that it will be a shared vaccine,” Hajdu said.

Meanwhile, the federal government is also working to arrange flights back to Canada for citizens stranded abroad as other countries shut their borders and close airports to restrict travel.

The first flight, arranged with Air Canada, will leave Morocco for Montreal on Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said. Government officials are also in talks with other countries — including Peru and Spain — to arrange return flights for as many Canadians as possible, he said.

Champagne said there are tens of thousands of Canadians abroad, but admitted not everyone will be able to return amidst a worldwide crisis that has seen countries go into lockdown and clamp down on travel to contain the deadly coronavirus.

The government is offering loans of up to $5,000 to those who can’t come back to Canada.

“We are doing everything in our power to bring the largest number of Canadians home as quickly as possible,” he said. “Unfortunately, it will not be possible to ensure the return of all Canadians who wish to come home.”

This week, as the impacts of the pandemic and measures to contain its spread cratered stock markets and economic activity, Trudeau said roughly 500,000 people filed employment insurance claims with the government — up from just 27,000 at the same time last year.

Ottawa has already announced $27 billion in direct aid to Canadian workers and businesses as the first tranche of a broader package of measures to get through a coming slump.

Parliament is expected to be called back next week to pass legislation to send out this money, and Trudeau said Saturday the government is ready to do what is necessary to help individuals and businesses stay afloat during the crisis.

“We need to do things that are absolutely unprecedented, in terms of getting money out the door into the pockets of Canadians who need it,” he said.

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