Alberta premier announces plan to send surplus PPE to B.C., Ontario, Quebec

EDMONTON (NEWS 1130) — Alberta’s premier announced Saturday the province will be shipping surplus supplies of personal protective equipment to B.C., Ontario, and Quebec.

“As an Albertan and as a Canadian, I could not in conscience watch us stockpile massive amounts of surplus equipment while we see many of our fellow Canadians in some provinces within days of running out of some of these supplies,” Jason Kenney said.

B.C. will receive 250,000 N95 masks from its neighbour to the east.

“British Columbia, like Alberta has had great success in containing the outbreak, but has experienced a relatively high number of hospitalizations and is short on N95 masks,” Kenney said.

Ontario and Quebec–the two provinces with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations–will each receive a quarter of a million N95 masks, as well as millions of gloves and procedural masks.

Fifty ventilators are set to be shipped to Ontario.

Kenney also assuaged any concerns that sending supplies to other provinces might compromise Alberta’s capacity to care for its residents.

“I want to stress for my fellow Albertans that we are absolutely confident that these contributions will in no way undermine our capacity to provide critical protective equipment and ventilators to Alberta’s medical professionals, to other associated frontline workers, and to care for those in need of it. We would not contribute if it in any way impaired our ability to provide for our own healthcare needs,” Kenney concluded.   =

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