Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians on the COVID-19 pandemic from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Ontario, on Thursday, April 9. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP

Canadian public health officials for the first time released national projections on the spread of Covid-19 and warned that social distancing measures were unlikely to end soon.

Projections released and provided to CNN indicate there could be as many as 700 deaths in Canada by mid-April and anywhere from 11,000 to 22,000 deaths throughout the duration of the pandemic, depending on social distancing measures.

“These stark numbers tell us that we must do everything that we can now to remain in that best-case scenario,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer.

“We don’t know if we’ve reached the peak anywhere in Canada as of yet, so it’s too early to tell,” Dr. Tam said. She added that Canada is at an earlier stage of the pandemic than other countries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was blunt as he discussed the projections, saying there would be no "return to normal" until a widely available vaccine is found.

“We have the chance to determine what our country looks like in the weeks and months to come. Our health care systems across the country are coping for the time being, but we're at a fork in the road, between the best and the worst possible outcomes," Trudeau said.

Trudeau told Canadians to expect many more weeks of sheltering in place with immediate family.

By the numbers: Canada has reported 19,260 cases of Covid-19 and 436 deaths. Nearly half of those deaths are among residents of long-term care homes as health officials deal with outbreaks at those facilities right across the country.