Canada puts in big orders
OTTAWA
The federal government is stepping up efforts to produce ventilators, face masks and surgical gowns in Canada, while it continues to try to get millions of pieces of equipment ordered from international suppliers actually shipped to Canada.
That includes an order of 500,000 N95 respirator masks from Minnesota-based 3M, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said should arrive in Canada Wednesday, while acknowledging the duel with U.S. President Donald Trump over medical supplies is not entirely over.
“We continue to work with Americans,” Trudeau said in his daily briefing to Canadians outside his Ottawa home Tuesday.
“As I’ve said, we’ve had constructive and productive conversations that have assured that this particular shipment comes through but we recognize there is still more work to do,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland later added that there are more shipments expected from 3M and all of them should arrive as expected, but that there are orders with other U.S. suppliers that have not been given clearance to be exported yet.
Canada’s main argument to the United States is that they are reliant on raw materials, manufactured goods and health care professionals from Canada, and that both countries will do better if neither blocks those supplies or people from crossing the border.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Canada has recorded more than 375 deaths due to COVID-19, and hundreds of Canadians remain hospitalized in critical condition fighting the respiratory illness. Nationally, the number of confirmed cases grew to more than 17,000.
Quebec on Tuesday projected that in the best-case scenario, COVID-19 will peak in that province in about 11 days, and kill 1,263 people by the end of April. In the worst-case scenario, more than 8,860 Quebecers will die in that timeframe, though provincial officials anticipate the final outcome based on current data will fall closer to the best-case numbers.
Last week Ontario estimated between 3,000 and 15,000 Ontarians will die of COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic.
The federal government has not yet released national projections.
The main message from Ottawa Tuesday was about efforts to get the needed medical equipment. Procurement Minister Anita Anand said more than 230 million surgical masks and 75 million N95 respirator masks have been ordered but cautioned the global supply chain is so fragile they cannot guarantee how many of those will actually arrive.
Front-line medical workers remain in desperate need of personal protective equipment, including gowns and N95 masks.
Trudeau said to ensure a stable supply, Canada has to make a lot more of these things at home — and that Canada is not alone in not having what it needed on hand.