Ontario Public Health officials are projecting between 3,000 and 15,000 deaths in the province due to COVID-19 over the next two years.
Had the province not taken any public health measures like shutting down schools and encouraging physical distancing the death toll could have been over 100,000.
"That is not where we are, that is not what we believe is going to happen but that is why we needed to do all of things that we've done thus far and it's why we need to continue to bear down. If we all do a good job, if we all stick to these measures we can get an end result somewhere between 3,000 and 15,000," said Public Health Ontario CEO Dr. Peter Donnelly.
Projections show we could have upwards of 80,000 cases in the province of Ontario by the end of April, which could put a major strain on the healthcare system. To date, there are around 410 ICU beds available for COVID-19 patients in the province with the ability to increase capacity by around 900 additional beds. If current projections are correct, hospitals could fill current capacity by Monday, April 6 and need all of the additional beds by April 14.
"Both on ICU capacity and on the entire system, your health care system and all the wonderful people who work in it, we are trying everything we can to continue to increase the capacity that we have to respond to this disease," said Matthew Anderson, CEO of Ontario Health. "However, as you've already heard we need everyone to play their part. We have to try to keep the prevalence of this disease to a minimum to allow our health care system to be able to support those who need it."