‘This is the future of our country’: PM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning that Canada’s future hangs in the balance if people don’t reduce their contacts to prevent dire new COVID-19 projections from becoming a reality.

Trudeau summoned his full powers of persuasion on Friday to bring home the stakes of federal forecasts predicting that Canada is on track to see tens of thousands of new COVID-19 cases per day absent a severe reduction in socialization.

During a news conference outside his home at Rideau Cottage — the site of his daily briefings during the first wave of the pandemic last spring — Trudeau urged Canadians to reverse the grave trajectory by staying home and strictly limiting contacts.

After weeks of similar calls, Trudeau acknowledged the mounting emotional and economic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken as the crisis drags on.

But he warned that if Canadians don’t take immediate action, the consequences may be felt for generations to come.

“This is the future of our country. It’s the future of our children. It’s the future of our loved ones and our seniors. It’s our economy, it’s our businesses, it’s everything altogether,” Trudeau told reporters.

“We’re going to need to have to do this for another few weeks, for another few months, and we can begin to see the other side of this.”

The caution came as public health authorities released their latest modelling on Friday indicating that COVID-19 case counts have far surpassed levels seen during the first wave.

If Canadians increase their contact rates going into the holiday season, COVID-19 cases could skyrocket to 60,000 per day by the end of the year, according to the updated projections.

That would be a twelvefold increase from the current level of around 5,000 cases per day, which is already putting pressure on health-care systems in some regions.