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May 7, 2020 7:30 PM -

Dr. Theresa Tam: Going to a cottage or a second home can be a bad idea

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Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, speaks during a press conference on Parliament Hill during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Tam says a COVID-19 outbreak gripping the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche is an area of concern.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Dr. Theresa Tam says it's a bad idea to go to a cottage or a second home if you risk straining local health resources.

Rules and advice on how to apply that will vary from province to province and situation to situation, though.

In Ontario, for instance, Premier Doug Ford has called on people who own cottages not to leave city homes for them over the upcoming Victoria Day weekend, after previously saying he thought it might be OK.

Tam says part of the concern is about spreading the virus that causes COVID-19, and part is about simply having too many people heading to places that don't have the local hospital capacity to treat them if they got sick.



(Millionth test for COVID-19 conducted)



Dr. Theresa Tam says Canada has conducted its millionth test for COVID-19, and about six per cent of the people tested have been confirmed as positive cases.

Nearly half of those who tested positive are considered recovered at this point, but more than 4,000 people have died of the illness.

The country's chief public health officer says mental health is a growing concern amid the pandemic, but one thing that helps many people is feeling as though they're helping and making a difference.

For children, she says being creative and cheering people up with art can achieve that.

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