OTTAWA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that the COVID-19 pandemic state is frightening.
As of Friday afternoon, Canada reported a total of 642,548 new cases of COVID-19 and 16,665 fatalities, according to CTV.
"Frankly, it's frightening to see cases rise at home and around the world, day after day," Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa.
Trudeau said things are "tough" right now, imploring people to take the necessary public health measures and committing to keeping up federal aid from economic supports to the deployment of the military to assist in communities facing outbreaks.
The country's Ontario province reported record 4,249 new COVID-19 cases and 26 more deaths on Friday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Friday that the province is in the "most serious situation" and the consequences will be more dire if public health measures are ignored and that the province-wide shutdown might not end on Jan. 23.
"We will have to look at more extreme measures," Ford added at a press conference. "I'm asking all Ontarians to please stay home and save lives."
Quebec province, which is to impose a four-week curfew starting on Saturday, is also facing a strained health system. The province reported 2,588 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 45 additional deaths.
On Friday, Trudeau said his government is committed to vaccinating every Canadian who wants a shot by the end of September.
The country will have to administer roughly 100,000 doses a day for the next 265 days if it's going to vaccinate every adult in Canada by that time.
"Quantities of both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine will scale up in February. We need to make sure we're getting those doses as quickly as possible and I can assure you that we continue ongoing conversations with the companies about accelerating the schedule of delivery so we can get Canadians vaccinated as quickly and efficiently as possible," Trudeau said. Enditem