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Federal government preparing for COVID-19 surge, worst-case scenario in fall

By Martin MacMahon and The Canadian Press

OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) — Canada’s chief public health officer said Friday the federal government is planning for a surge of COVID-19 cases and a “reasonable worst-case scenario” in the fall.

Theresa Tam said the peak would be followed by ongoing ups and downs, where the demand could temporarily exceed the capacity of the health-care system to cope.

She is concerned about the possibility of the health care system trying to manage a bad flu season and the coronavirus at the same time.

“This type of scenario could include a large fall peak, followed by ongoing peaks and valleys, in which resource demands intermittingly exceed the health and all public health systems’ capacity to manage,” she added.

Tam said building hospital capacity and encouraging people to follow health guidelines is key to avoiding the worst outcomes.

“We are also doing a lot of work on prevention.”

The federal government released its latest national modelling projections for the spread of the novel coronavirus Friday.

“We are also doing a lot of work on prevention.

The data suggests the number of cases by Aug. 23 could be as high as 127,740, with 100 more deaths.

As of Friday, Canada has recorded 121,392 cases of COVID-19, including 9,018 deaths.

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