Over 300,000 Canadians may die from Covid-19 in case of ‘no control effort’ – report

The Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a report detailing the possible best and worst-case scenarios of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the most grim projections saying the death toll could go into tens of thousands.

The modeling data released Thursday estimates that if the levels of infected people in Canada in the coming months range between 2.5 to five percent, there could be up to 22,000 fatalities.

However, the report cautioned that these numbers are based on the continuation of public health measures at a proper level.

Weaker steps to tackle the outbreak are said to bring a much higher death toll. And finally, the worst-case scenario, meaning no control efforts, would see a harrowing figure of up to 80 percent of people infected and over 300,000 Canadians dying from the virus.

As such, the agency believes that in order to effectively contain the disease, public measures such as physical distancing, case testing and isolation, travel restrictions, hand hygiene, and quarantine will be necessary in the coming months to manage future waves of the virus. 

The report concludes by saying that since Canada is “at an earlier stage of the Covid-19 pandemic than some other countries,” they have an opportunity to contain the spread.

“Models are not a crystal ball,” Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer said at a briefing.

As of Thursday, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Canada is 19,774, with 461 deaths.

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