Dr. Theresa Tam warning about new surges in the number of COVID-19 cases

Canada's chief public health officer is warning that there will be new surges in the number of COVID-19 cases heading into the fall.

Dr. Theresa Tam says the federal government is planning for what she calls a ``reasonable worst-case scenario.''

But she says health officials will also ramp up prevention measures since they are also expecting the usual flu season as well as COVID-19.

The health model suggests the number of cases by August 23rd could be as high as 127,000 and the number of deaths as high as 9,115.

Tam says continuing to build hospital capacity, while encouraging people to follow best public health practices, is essential to avoid

the worst outcomes. That would be so many cases of the virus that the health system gets overwhelmed.