A snowstorm and frigid temperatures gripped much of Canada on Sunday, leading to power outage, flight delay and cancellations, and road traffic disruption.
Environment Canada has issued an orange alert for multiple parts of the country, signaling rare and severe weather that is likely to result in significant damage, disruption or health impacts.
In eastern Canada's Ontario province, snowfall has lasted more than 10 hours. Heavy snow combined with strong gusts has significantly reduced visibility, forcing drivers to slow down. Ontario Provincial Police said they have responded to dozens of traffic accidents in southwestern parts of the largest Canadian province.
In the capital city of Ottawa, the local government issued a daytime winter weather parking ban for Monday, from 10:00 to 19:00, due to weather conditions.
Officials in Toronto also introduced similar measures. In the French-speaking province of Quebec, the storm left more than 10,000 households without power supply in suburban areas of Montreal. Power outages were also reported in Newfoundland along the Atlantic coast.
The storm is also having a significant impact on the country's largest air hub -- the Toronto Pearson International Airport. According to the airport's website, more than 60 percent of over 900 arriving and departing flights between Saturday and Sunday were canceled, while another 10 percent were delayed.
Many passengers' travel plans were therefore disrupted.
"Until I get here, I discovered that my flight was canceled because of the bad weather that we have. So we don't know what is going to happen next, but they told us we should wait," said Babx, a local resident.
Snowstorm hit parts of Canada, triggering power outage, disrupting flights
China on Monday firmly rejected the groundless accusations of the United States regarding COVID-19, and reaffirmed its steadfast support for the World Health Organization (WHO) and multilateralism, following a U.S. statement of withdrawal from the WHO.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a joint statement on the termination of the United States' WHO membership on Jan 23. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also made unsubstantiated claims about China's early handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to a relevant query at a daily press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stressed that China has been open, transparent and responsible in its anti-pandemic efforts.
"After the outbreak of COVID-19, China has put people and their lives front and center, worked with other countries to fight the pandemic together, and made important contributions to international cooperation against COVID-19. China's record of COVID-19 response has a clear timeline and solid data. It's widely recognized by the international community and brooks no distortion or smearing. China firmly opposes politicizing the virus. To use COVID-19 as a pretext for political manipulation and shift blame to China will find no support and will not succeed," said Guo.
Guo also noted that the WHO is a professional international institution and the authority in the field of global public health, and that it has expressed regret over the U.S. withdrawal notification.
"Multilateralism is the cornerstone of the current international order and is the prevailing trend and what the people want. China has all along supported WHO in fulfilling its duty, deepened international cooperation on public health, strengthened global governance on public health, and promoted the building of a global community of health for all," he said.
China rejects U.S. accusations on COVID-19, stresses commitment to WHO, multilateralism
