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HEALTH-VIRUS-CANADA-TOLL
Canada projects coronavirus could kill 11,000 to 22,000
OTTAWA, April 9, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The coronavirus pandemic could
kill between 11,000 and 22,000 people in Canada, the government
projected Thursday.
It said the country could see between 934,000 and 1.9 million cases
of COVID-19 by the time the pandemic ends, assuming Canadians observe
strict social distancing and other safety measures over the next few
months.
These are the federal government’s first projections on the
pandemic’s possible toll in Canada.
As of Thursday morning, Canada was reporting nearly 20,000 cases of
infection with 476 deaths, according to figures provided by provincial
authorities.
By April 16, the virus death toll will probably be between 500 and
700, said Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam.
“We can’t prevent every death, but we must prevent every death that
we can,” Tam said.
“Models are not crystal balls and we cannot predict the future
with them. However, they do help us to plan and they tell us that our
collective actions can have a direct and significant impact on the
epidemic trajectory.”
The number of cases in Canada is doubling every three to five days.
Health authorities have declined to say when they think the rate might
peak in Canada.
Officials in Quebec, Canada’s hardest hit province with nearly half
of the country’s cases, said the pandemic might peak there in
mid-April.
For days now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under pressure
to release nationwide figures on Canada’s experience with the pandemic
sweeping the globe.
The four most affected provinces, which account for 94 percent of the
country’s cases, have done so.
Trudeau is stressing that the evolution of the virus here will
depend on people staying at home and observing social distancing
practices.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2204hrs