New Brunswick Becomes 7th Canadian Province To Invoke Emergency Powers Over COVID-19

TORONTO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2020) New Brunswick became the seventh Canadian province to invoke emergency measures amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak following a declaration by Premier Blaine Higgs on Thursday.

"It is my duty to inform you that the Government of New Brunswick is declaring a state of emergency today under the Emergency Measures Act," Higgs said at a press conference.

The premier said that an excess of residents not following or deliberately ignoring the advice of public health officials compelled the province to take such strong action.

So far, the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and now New Brunswick have declared a state of emergency, while Alberta, Quebec and Prince Edward Island (PEI) have declared a state of public health emergency, as Canada struggles to contain the spread of the disease.

In Canada, the number of confirmed cases of infection has spiked to 772 and the death toll has risen to nine, according to the country's chief medical official Dr. Theresa Tam.

According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 236,000 cases of COVID-19 infections worldwide have been confirmed, including over 9,000 fatalities and more than 84,000 recoveries.