Article content

As the Liberal government announced $1 billion to battle coronavirus, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said COVID-19 could ultimately infect between 30 and 70 per cent of Canadians.

Hajdu was facing questions in committee from the NDP’s health critic Don Davies about the potential spread of the disease in Canada and just how prepared the government was to handle an increase in cases.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Federal government warns up to 26 million Canadians could get COVID-19; allocates $1B for fight Back to video

“Can we expect a thousand or 5,000? Do you have those numbers or not? I have asked this question repeatedly and I am never getting an answer from the government,” said Davies at the committee.

Hajdu said the government is preparing for the worst, because so much is unknown.

“It is irresponsible to give you a number, because we don’t know. The science is not clear, because there are a range of numbers that have happened in various countries,” she said. “I would say it is safe to assume that it could be between 30 per cent of the population — that acquire COVID-19 — and 70 per cent.”