Prime minister Justin Trudeau has released the latest model of how the COVID-19 pandemic could play out in the next few months.

In his Ottawa coronavirus briefing this morning, Trudeau outlined the best case scenario which is the initial peak, the top of the curve, may be in late spring with the end of the first wave in the summer.

He says the modelling suggests, best case scenario, smaller outbreaks for a number of months afterwards.

“This will be the new normal, until a vaccine is developed.”

The national COVID-19 models suggest anywhere from 11,000 to 300,000 deaths could occur in Canada in the pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked, given the projections, if stronger measures would be needed to keep people at home and social distancing.

“We have seen that the measures that have been taken, have been taken seriously, by Canadians right across the country. People are staying home, people are choosing to go out only for necessities, they are working from home as much as possible.”

The prime minister acknowledges measures to strengthen and improve existing guidelines are being looked at, including more efficient testing.

Meantime, he says 4 and half million claims for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit have already been processed. (CJGX)