Federal officials remain cautious, but say the number of COVID-19 cases in Canada are apparently slowing down.

During the daily pandemic update in Ottawa, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the increase in the number of new cases has slowed.

There are now 24,804 confirmed cases, and 734 deaths.

Dr. Tam also says a significant proportion of the deaths continue to be in long-term care facilities. She says because the virus can have a prolonged course, these deaths will continue to increase even as the epidemic growth rate slows down.

Tam says people in the country have shifted behaviour patterns to break the chain of the COVID-19 pandemic. She says the challenge is nowhere near over and we will have to work just as hard to get all the way down to a new normal when we reach low levels of transmission. She says, how soon we get there, and what that new normal will look like depends on our actions now.

More than 428 thousand people have been tested, and 5.7% have comer back positive.

[cjgx april 13 2020]