Prime Minister Discusses Personal Protective Equipment
The Prime Minister says personal protective equipment is key, in addition to physical distancing, to keeping people safe.
In his daily COVID-19 briefing he said every few days they receive new deliveries of PPE and this week over 6 million surgical masks will be shipped to provinces and territories. As well over a hundred thousand face shields are ready to be shipped out soon.
Trudeau acknowledge with businesses coming back on line as the economy reopens, there would be an increased demand for personal protective equipment. The Prime Minister says that is why the government continues to procure massive amounts of PPE from overseas while at the same time watching the Canadian production come on line so there is domestic capacity as well.
Justin Trudeau on School Reopening
Quebec, the province hardest hit in terms of number of cases of COVID-19 and in terms of deaths from the virus, is talking about re-opening schools.
When asked his thoughts on the matter, the Prime Minister outlined what his criteria would be if his children were going back to school and it would start with reviewing the status of the situation in terms of number of cases and where there are outbreaks. He said it would also depend on equipment and supports available, he would want to know what the school’s plans were going to be, whether the desks were going to be properly spaced, whether there would be plans at recess in terms of keeping people separated which are all details that need to be worked out.
Trudeau on Reopening the Economy
The Prime Minister says the federal government will soon be releasing the principles around re-opening the economy which is a framework developed in partnership with the premiers and territorial leaders. Justin Trudeau says it will be guided by science and controlling transmission is key.
“If you’re neighbourhood doesn’t have new cases, if your province is flattening the curve, this is a good sign for being able to slowly look at lifting some restrictions. So, we need to know where things stand. To reopen the economy there must be enough capacity to test and trace COVID-19 to control any new spread.”
To that end, Trudeau says there are numerous ways the government can help to increase the capacity like more procurement of the necessary swabs in domestic production with a production of the reagent which is the chemical necessary to analyze the tests.
He says businesses have to be prepared to make the necessary adjustments to continue to adhere to safety protocols, hospitals have to have the capacity to deal with regular caseload and Covid-19 and stronger measures have to stay in place, longer, at long term care homes.
