Canada forecasting 9,400 coronavirus-related deaths by mid-June
Canada’s top health officials are forecasting that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country will rise as high as 107,454 by June 15, and the total number of deaths could hit 9,400 in the same time frame.
On Thursday morning, the federal government released projections of the coronavirus through modelling that shows where we might be heading over the next week.
Government of Canada
During the presentation, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Teresa Tam said Canada has made significant progress to bring the epidemic under control, “thanks to the commitment of Canadians who are following public health advice to protect themselves and others.”
However, “until there is a vaccine or effective treatment, we must carefully balance the risks associated with the spread of COVID-19 with the unintended social and health consequences of restrictive public health measures.”
Jurisdictions across the country, said Tam, “are taking a gradual, phased approach to increasing social and economic activity with appropriate conditions and controls in place to minimize serious illness, death, and burden on the health care system.”
“Dynamic models show that when we lift restrictive population-based public health measures (e.g. business and school closures, stay at home requirements), we must strengthen other core public health measures to maintain epidemic control,” she said.
Lifting population-based measures without strengthening other public health measures “will likely cause the epidemic to rebound.”
Government of Canada
During his daily update on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the data shows that Canada is continuing to make progress in the fight against the virus, but “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Trudeau said many communities’ numbers of new cases are low, and the government has been successful in tracing where the virus came from.
He said it is slowing, and in some cases “stopping.”
With economies slowly reopening nationally, Trudeau said “it’s even more important to keep two metres apart, wash our hands, and wear a mask where possible.”
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