New Jersey health officials are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks. But Gov. Phil Murphy says that they are hoping for the best.

The state released the “best case” projection for infections at the governor’s COVID-19 briefing on Monday.

The projection still sees a peak of more than 4,000 cases per day. But this is below the worst-case scenario of 8,000 cases a day.

“Certainly, we are not going to prepare ourselves for the best-case scenario. We hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. And we’re going to continue to keep ourselves on a footing that ensures that if in fact the worst does emerge over the coming weeks, that we are fully prepared,” Murphy said.

The governor also acknowledged that people are getting tired of all of the pandemic restrictions. But he urged them to stay the course.

“We would love nothing more than to be over-prepared. To do that will require all of us to redouble our efforts when it comes to overcoming our pandemic fatigue,” he said. “I get we are all quite tired after a year of social distancing and face masks. You are, trust me, so are we.”

Under the best-case scenario, hospitalizations would sit around 2,100 patients.