TORONTO (CANADA) – Several media outlets reported late on Thursday that Canada is on track to record 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day by the end of December.
The Globe and Mail newspaper and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the modelling, set to be released by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), shows a worst-case scenario of 60,000 new cases per day if social contacts continue to increase.
Canada’s national average stood at 4,788 new cases between Nov. 12 and Nov. 18, according to government data released on Thursday.
PHAC declined to comment on the reports and referred to an earlier statement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on presenting the upcoming modelling to opposition parties earlier on Thursday.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Canada reported 315,751 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, up by 4,642 from the day before, and 11,265 deaths, an increase of 79.
Hospitals in Manitoba, a province in central Canada, are on the verge of being overwhelmed, according to doctors there.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week that his province is “staring down the barrel of another lockdown”.