The only thing I would add is that although you can reach a certain rate of absenteeism in a pandemic, all will not likely reach that rate at the same time. The workforce will be in and out of the workplace.
That is what the planning of critical services is all about, to make sure what level of people is required in the workplace for critical services. Then around that, the departments, particularly the 24/7 departments, the people who are operating around the clock, have a good idea of what is the lowest number—not the ideal number—of people needed to deliver key services. They have a very good idea of the number needed to actually be able to deliver the services. Then you can think about your redeployment strategy around that.
So I think it's safe to say, particularly for the 24/7 departments, that from the various experiences in the past, ranging from strikes to other crises that hit locally, such as floods in Winnipeg, the ice storm, and the power shortage in Ontario, they have been able to build their capacity to know what is the lowest number of people needed to actually provide the services. Then you plan around the evolution of your absentees.
We also have to understand that the summertime is a controlled environment, with a lot people not being in the workplace, so there is some knowledge built around that. It's on that basis that people are building and planning around the critical services.
So throwing out figures of 30% or 40% may sound high, but knowing that all of the absenteeism won't be at the same time and that we are able to operate on both good and bad days without 100% of the workforce, we are able to narrow down what we really need in the remaining range.