Child under 10 dies of COVID-19 in Canada

A child under the age of 10 died of COVID-19 in Waterloo Region of Canada, reported Xinhua, quoting CTV on Friday.

Waterloo Region's medical officer of health Hsiu-Li Wang confirmed the child's death at the region's weekly COVID-19 briefing on Friday morning.

"The child had underlying health conditions," Wang said. "There were no school-related or childcare-related exposures in this case."

She said this is a "rare, tragic circumstance" that serves as a "devastating reminder of the serious nature of this virus."

Wang said she is not aware of a younger death reported in Ontario to date, and said this is the first death in the under 10 age group in Waterloo Region.

Wang didn't provide any further specifics about the age of the child who died.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted about the death on Friday, saying it is "absolutely gut-wrenching."

Ontario province, in which Waterloo is a city, reported 795 new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday morning, bringing the total number of the province to 578,048 cases, including deaths and recoveries.

On Friday, Canada reported 1,650 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the cumulative total to 1,565,764, including 27,333 deaths, according to CTV.