milestone in the number of kogut 19 cases today more than 10, 000 now we are expecting to hear about that of course and more at the prime ministers daily pandemic briefing very soon from outside his home at Rideau cottage will of course have updates through the afternoon from premiers and provincial health authorities on the state of play inside their own provinces we know also that today Canada's premiers in the Prime Minister will be speaking later today we hear around 5:00 Eastern about the situation in their provinces and whether each province has enough supplies so we'll hear more about that as the day goes on as well so as I said more than 10, 000 cases of kovat 19 in this country a hundred and 31 deaths and an important number to keep your eye on as well 1800 Canadians now recovered from the virus we know of course that these numbers are not up to date by the minute and we know that they don't really paint a picture of what is happening in terms of the pandemic inside our country the biggest concern right now vulnerable populations like those long-term care centers particularly the one everyone is watching now in Bobcaygeon that have been hit hard but also community spread which now accounts for 67 percent of new cases as we wait for the prime minister my colleagues parent politics host Vashi Capella's and the CBC's catherine cullen joined me here today so that is obviously you know a stark and and maybe worrisome number for many people more than 10, 000 cases obviously not everyone has been hospitalized not all of them are in in terms of intensive care we know that the fatality rate is still about one percent or so at least in terms of the reported deaths that we know about and the general consensus from public health officials seems to be the health care system still has the capacity for this but we know as well that more testing is being done and preparations are being made for what I think it's fair to say the Deputy Prime Minister certainly said it yesterday the fact that this is going to get worse before it gets better what are we expecting to hear from the Prime Minister today about you yeah I think a lot of messaging that speaks to exactly what you just laid out Rosie I'm not expecting any big new announcements we got a lot of new details yesterday from both the prime minister and the finance minister where that wage subsidy program is concerned and I know there are still a lot of people sort of questioning what do I qualify how do I qualify those details at least are now available so I think today is more focused particularly on messaging around heating the warnings that we keep talking about and that we keep hearing from various public health officials minding the physical distancing staying inside as long as you can only leaving to go to the grocery store once that kind of thing there is a lot of anticipation right now focused on whether or not those measures are beginning to work are we starting to see signs of that it does depend on the province that you're in and I think that call with the Premier's will also be extremely significant expect to hear something about that and the working relationship with the provinces right now when you talk about for example the level of preparedness that the hospital systems in this country have it does vary province to province and so does for example the hospitalization rate of this or the ICU capacity we don't even have the data necessarily from each province at this point where those things are concerned and also when the supply aspect of it all comes in we have been talking yesterday about France while ago the Premier of Quebec laying out that he thinks he only has three to seven days of certain supplies and an acknowledgement yesterday from the federal government that even their emergency stockpile might not be enough again it does depend on the province I heard premier Jason Kenney from Alberta say they have what they need Newfoundland is worried about it Quebec is worried about it so that kind of coordination the the distribution of those supplies and even the acquisition of them are all questions that the prime minister I think will get from reporters but also from premiers later today yeah I think that that's a good point I'll bring you in on that Catherine because you know Quebec accounts for about half of the country's cases right now Kogan 19 cases and there are a few reasons for that partly because Spring Break in Quebec happened a little bit before we've talked about this other places in Canada partly because testing has but we see in Quebec you know some some much more extreme measures now to try and make sure that nothing further happens for instance this move now to shut down the the traffic the cross-border traffic here between Ottawa and Gatineau but but the concern around personal protective equipment it seems real on the front lines is certainly real in Quebec but but vash is quite right it really does depend who you're talking to i've talked to a number of doctors and nurses during these specials and and the vast majority of them feel pretty well-equipped so it is really a hospital dependent region dependent even absolutely in another I mean you talk about the numbers coming out of Quebec Rosi another really striking statistic more than 500 long-term care facilities in that province have at least one reported case of kovat 19 so Quebec struggling on a number of fronts doing things like putting in as you mentioned checkpoints in different parts of the province trying to restrict movement within parts of the province as they try to deal with what is a growing outbreak certainly we can expect that to be part of the conversation with the premiers later today and I think it's clear that that question of personal protective equipment is a major one the government announcing yesterday it will spend up to two billion dollars to procure more of this protective equipment but the questions are obviously pressing our colleagues Reggio Canada to have a really compelling report on their website this morning talking about what is essentially the way it's described there certainly something of a war internationally right talking about equipment actually being bought off of airport runways essentially it's headed to one country another country tries to buy it up so it's clear that there's a real sense of competitiveness out there public health officials here in Canada in many cases trying to offer assurances but that that competition that effort is certainly an ongoing one and we did hear from the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday Chrystia Freeland that Quebec was going to get some more equipment so it's something that that the federal government is hearing clearly but it is an ongoing challenge around the world and certainly in this country too okay as we wait for the prime minister to emerge there from his home I do want to go to Mona Nemer she here in Ottawa she's the chief science advisor of Canada to talk a little bit more about some of the the testing and the data parts that you know we as laypeople try to understand and moanin Emer maybe we I can just ask you to start with how do you think we might be doing in in Canada there have been lots of questions of provinces and federal officials around the data and try and understand the data if you were to say give us an example or a comparison to another country South Korea Italy where would you say we are we are going in the scheme of things a good morning I hope we're going more towards South Korea than Italy although Italy is ramping up its testing and its data sharing what you want is to be set up actually to do it before you hit the peak of the of the epidemic because this is when your frontline health care workers are are actually swamped with with care and data becomes you know sort of secondary issue for them so I think that we've put things in place now and we have more data that's coming from the provinces and from the national microbiology lab as well so let's hope that we're heading in the better condition in terms of data we've been calling for more testing so I am pleased that we're having more testing done so the numbers should not necessarily scare us they may reflect as you said the fact that we're doing more testing right that's critical more than 250, 000 tasks completed when we got the last update from public health officials probably higher now we talk about when we're going to hit the peak and dr.
Tam talked about that a little bit yesterday and how hard it is to determine do you have any sense from the the data that you've seen about when we might hit the peak it's very difficult to tell you know with with precision when we're going to hit the peak and the peak may hit at different times in different provinces so it's not necessarily a at the same time across the country I think that generally the modelers are telling us that you know we're heading towards that in the coming week or two but again it can vary greatly between one province and the of the country and for that matter from one area any province to the other is there a province right now that is particularly troubling for you I point to Ontario because it does seem like there is a real lag in the data or a lack of data it would that be of concern to you or is there another place that is worrying well based on what we're seeing and the number of tests I have to say that I am a little bit preoccupied by the situation in Ontario because we should be doing more testing in Ontario and I hope that they're going to be able to ramp this up I know that they've decentralized the testing towards the academic hospitals as well and other academic labs are are stepping in as well so yes I'm preoccupied by the lower number of tests that we're seeing in Ontario what is the it would be the key thing for Canadians to keep our eyes on you know dr.
Tam and and the Prime Minister have both signaled that this week the next 7 to 10 days or so is really critical to seeing whether the physical distancing is working what what are you keeping your eyes on over the next week or so I think for sure the total number of tests that of cases that are recorded but more importantly than this is really the number of hospitalization and I think that we have to be careful not to draw conclusions based on one day or two we really need to see a trend and is a trend is several days not just like one or two days so what would the percentage of hospitalizations tell you right now well given that the number of hospitalization well first of all let's remember that the folks who are hospitalized most of them actually recover and there's only a very small percentage that will go into more complications and and ultimately perhaps death but nonetheless the number of hospitalizations are telling us the severity of the cases and the ones that are going to perhaps overload the healthcare system so that's why it's very important you have talked about previously doing more testing particularly trying to start using the the blood testing model which would give us a sense of who has already contracted the virus would you like to see a government's broaden the testing criteria and how quickly should that be happening yes I think that it's really important to appreciate that there are two types of tests that are being that are being carried out mostly right now one of them the other one hopefully we'll start doing it as well at a large scale the first one is what we're doing now the DNA test which determines who presently has the virus the blood test determines who actually was infected and evidently recovered and together they give us a better sense of the percentage of people who have been infected and the number who have recovered this is very important in terms of calculating the exact infectivity rate if you want like how many people are infected by one person the other one is the percentage of course of fatalities and the percentage that are needing hospitalization and lastly equally important I think once we get over the crisis and I'm confident we will is to understand the measures that can be put in place for return to normal so the number of people who have developed immunity to this is extremely important in fact it's important right now in terms of the deployment of healthcare workers and other essential services individuals can I ask you to get to weigh in on on the mask debate there there has been some I guess can may be conflicting advice or not clear advice on whether it is the most useful thing for people who are not infected to we're not a medical grade mask but a surgical mask or a homemade mask what is your opinion on that well first of all I have to say that right now the most effective mesh is a social distancing or physical distancing and clearly washing your hands without going into a lot of details about the masks of course the masks are protective and that's why we want to have them for the health care workers homemade masks are not as effective and sometimes even masks that are you know surgical grade masks if you don't know how to wear them and pure if you know there are a number of studies that actually show that people who are wearing masks still touch their faces and they touch their face sometimes more often than others so it's it's really an uncertain and unclear whether you know the masks would be effective certainly right now putting the population out with masks is not recommended is is definitely not the most effective way of dealing with this crisis Mona número only have about 30 seconds before the prime minister comes out his front door we talked about how we are doing in terms of other countries and testing do you think that we are close to flattening this curve do you think we will be successful I think we would be successful I think it's again it depends on every one of us but certainly we have taken the measure the measures earlier than other countries and I'm confident that we are flattening the curve I think the question is how flat is it going to to be and that again is dependent on all of us okay Mona Nemer chief science advisor of Canada so good to speak with you and I appreciate your your big brain on all these issues that we are all trying to understand in real time thank you so much thank you and thanks to the media for the good work thank you we appreciate that very much all right as we stand by here and wait for the prime minister to emerge for his daily update Canadians on the pandemic we are expecting as we talked about earlier that the Prime Minister will speak with premiers later today of course premiers have also been in close contact with the Deputy Prime Minister who's chair of the Kovach 19 cabinet committee where they have been discussing the various challenges both from containing this on a public health perspective whether or not there is enough equipment in certain parts of the country what more is needed but also economically which is obviously the the other huge challenge from this pandemic which will you know go on even after the worst part of this is over but one of the messages that we have been hearing from the Prime Minister and and from his his colleagues is that really this is not the time to let up on that physical distancing that that is still so vital to making sure that we emerge from this faster and healthier here is the Prime Minister of Canada the last few weeks have been quite difficult for a great many people you were wondering how you could work from home and how you were going to be able to pay your bills after losing your job that can be tough to stay positive and it's normal for you to be frustrated but if you are going through a particularly dark period ask for help there are people out there who can help you and if you think that a friend or a member of the family needs help give them a quick call tell him that you're there to listen we are going through a difficult time now but we're going through this together and help is coming this evening I'll be chairing a first ministers meeting with the Premier's we're going to talk about how to continue working together to keep people safe and support it over the last few weeks in the face of an unprecedented challenge we've seen all levels of government cooperating on a response and going forward that collaboration will become even more important we will be there to support the provinces and territories with whatever they need this includes sending personal protective equipment and other supports for the healthcare system last night we received a shipment of over a million masks to a Hamilton warehouse I know that people there have been working overnight to validate these supplies this is an addition the 10, 000, 000 masks that have come in over the last days and are being distributed to the provinces and territories as quickly as possible and this Team Canada effort goes beyond government about two weeks ago we launched Canada's plan to mobilize industry to fight kovat 19 since then we spoken to almost 3, 000 companies helping us secure millions of pieces of vital equipment and I want to share a quintessentially Canadian example of this collaboration our government has ordered hundreds of thousands of face shields from Bauer the people who make hockey gear they're creating shields to protect nurses and doctors against kovat 19 this is exactly the kind of innovative collaborative thinking we need right now and I know we're going to see more of it in the coming days so soir they put me tonight the premiers and I will talk about the coordination of our efforts and data sharing we must work together to identify what our communities need right across the country for the provinces have made considerable progress when it comes to quickly analyzing the screening tests which means that experts now have new data that they have to look at our conversation tonight the Premier's and I will also discuss our continued coordination and sharing of data and modeling we need to work together to know what's needed where and when for communities right across the country provinces have been making significant progress on testing backlogs which is giving experts important data to analyze and we're constantly getting and validating more data that means we can share more information with you you can go to Canada dot see a slash coronavirus for the latest information about cases growth and spread but I know a lot of people are still wondering when this will get better or how much how much worse it might become you want to see the numbers and the predictions you want to wake up in the morning look online for the latest more credible data you can find you want to plan you want to prepare for the worst you want to know what to be hopeful about I know and we'll have more information keeping coming to you with it soon but the biggest variable in shaping these projections is you and your behavior you must listen to the world-class doctors who are already sharing the best available information and advice ignoring them puts lives at risk it's up to you to do the right thing while many of you are staying home and limiting trips to the grocery store too many still aren't what the experts are telling us is that we must do everything we can today and tomorrow to set us on the right path for next week and next month it takes time for the effects of our actions to be felt so if we don't want our hospitals to be overwhelmed so if we don't want our hospitals to be overwhelmed in the coming weeks we need to make the right choices and we need to make them now our public health care system is strong and our health care professionals are remarkable but they're facing a threat if every single one of us steps up right now we can help them if you listen to doctors if you stay home if you stay away from other people we won't overwhelm our hospitals we will protect our doctors and nurses we will protect our friends and neighbors it's going to take distancing and time to flatten the curve but that's how we'll get through this so let's save lives together by staying apart we'll keep working around the clock to get you the help you need to do just that what did you become in a three-point plan that will help you until things get better thanks to the emergency wage subsidy we are helping your employer's to keep you on the payroll with the new guaranteed loans for all businesses we have business owners who can now receive credit in order to come through these tough times and with the Canada emergency benefit we will be helping people until things get better if you've lost your job or your paycheck know that we're giving this fight everything we've got just yesterday we announced the biggest economic measures in our lifetime governments of all orders are organizing the most significant civic mobilization since World War two doctors and nurses truckers and air cargo operators are scaling up operations to levels we've never seen before in our history but here's the truth none of that will be enough without your health now no see under the idea of serving ones country changes from one generation to the next your grandfather may have served his country by going abroad and fighting a war your mother may have fought for more equality but now it's your turn it's your turn to contribute to the general effort you can serve your country by staying home and following the rules I know that that may seem simplistic but it's the only way to come through this trial every single one of us has to do his part we must all sacrifice our routine so that life will return to normal at some point I know that we can and that we will together mr.
prime minister become a staple a parody Kasyapa telephone moderator have mercy thank you merci oh yeah Christina did that rascal again and we moderately good morning mr.
Trudeau I'd like to talk about the supply chain and PPE we're hearing all sorts of stories about medical equipment being diverted have you been talking to the Americans about medical equipment intended for Canada and the need for that equipment to come to Canada I was very very concerned when I read the report about medical equipment being diverted and we will certainly be following up on that and we understand the concerns of premier Legault and others in that regard we will be following up with ministers Blair and Garneau to ensure that we know exactly what happened and particularly to ensure that equipment intended for Canada comes to Canada I've heard reports on this issue and of course they're concerning we need to make sure that equipment that is destined for Canada gets to and stays in Canada and I've asked ministers to follow up on these particular reports we are working not just here at home but overseas as well to ensure that the equipment that Canada has ordered makes its way to Canada and or have you raised this issue with the US administration did you get any guarantees or have you already received such guarantees with the US we are working with the Americans and we are following up on that specific issue we're working together and we understand that the needs in the US are very extensive but it's the same in Canada so we have to work together to ensure that we can can control the spread of this virus so we're working with the US and we will continue to work with the US to ensure that we have the equipment that we need thank you merci the next question Alex balangay Toronto Star Line open morning Prime Minister just you mentioned getting more information numbers and predictions soon what does soon mean and what information specifically are you I think first of all we can highlight that there has been tremendous transparency on the raw data on the numbers on the numbers of cases on where they are and we're of course adding to and collaborating closely with the provinces on making sure that those numbers get out there the question of analysis of those numbers is the next the next question people want to know what the model is how long they're likely to be in this situation when kids can see their friends again when we're going to be through this phase and get back to work those depend those analyses depend directly on Canadians behaviors they depend on whether or not people follow the rules around social distancing around staying two meters apart around isolation about not going out if for groceries more than once a week if you can these kinds of things will have a direct impact on which of the various models that are out there will be the one we take and we're going to continue to work on those analyses we're going to continue to crunch the data and numbers and we're going to continue to be open with Canadians about those expectations I understand that people want more information they want to know how long we're going to be in this situation when they're going to be able to get back to their jobs and when they're going to be able to see their friends particularly the young people out there but we are sharing the data in other words the number of cases there are where the cases are each day so that people can know what's happening but they're also interested in the analysis of that data and the modelling that may let us know how long this could last now obviously those models depend directly on the behavior of Canadians today yesterday and tomorrow that's why it's so important every single one of us does what is necessary follows the rules stays home keeps a safe distance and minimizes their contact with anyone else so that we can succeed in coming through this couple days ago describe some of the scenarios it's fairly dire what why is it that you can't release the projections that you have now the range of scenarios that you've talked about from from you know things working to things being fairly dire I think people can imagine a range of scenarios that shows everything from everyone gets suddenly better within the next few weeks to this situation just keeps getting worse and we face a situation like like some other countries and the most dire situations have there is a range out there and just highlighting that range is not as useful or important as being able to get clearer numbers and clearer analysis of what we are likely to face but everything that we are going to face will be directly linked to how people behave today and that is why it is so important that people stay home that they continue with the social distancing continue keeping two metres apart continue to look to minimize their movements as much as possible so that we can get through this in the best shape possible I understand that people may imagine all the different scenarios that could be from not too serious to very very serious as we've seen in other countries but the important thing for us is to be able to provide realistic modeling and that depends directly on behavior of Canadians today whether they continue to self isolate whether they maintain the proper distance from others and their behavior in general these days all of that will have an impact on what we see in future thank you merci thank you so very much those modeling scenarios is it because you're concerned that data will cause a lot of anguish and panic because a lot of people want to know where we are at and in in other countries such as the United States they are providing that information to citizens well I do think it's important for people to get information so that they can know what to expect but at the same thing the same time the important thing is for people to know that their choices and their behavior now have a direct impact on any model that we may end up seeing and what happens in the next few weeks of self-isolation as I said we're going to be in this position for several weeks and perhaps several months but we need to send a clear message to Canadians in order to give clear information to Canadians we need to analyze the data and the fact is we are sharing data there are models out there that people are looking at and there will be more to come in the days and weeks to come ministers said that the health care system is not in a position to deal with a huge surge now why is it there wasn't enough PPE in the National spot stockpile well I think that many governments around the world are going to be reflecting on that very issue once we come through this and we will certainly learn a great deal from this experience and this crisis for us the essential thing right now is to ensure that we are able to deliver the necessary equipment to the healthcare system that we try and flatten that curve as much as possible so that we will not end up in a situation where our hospitals and our healthcare system are overwhelmed and we no longer are able to care for people who are seriously affected by kovat 19 and that's why everything we're doing right now is aimed at protecting people thank you next question media Robson the Canadian press line open good morning I'm wondering if you could explain to us if you're not going to tell us what those analysis maladies say yet can you tell us what metrics are going into those analysis what are the key things that you're asking to be told about that if guiding your decision-making right now we've been working with the provinces on is ensuring that we have the best possible data we've seen over the past days there's been a lot of clearing of the backlog in testing in a number of different places that is giving us more accurate images on how kovat 19 is spreading on where it's spreading on how it's being transmitted and on how the measures that we're bringing into place are working I'll be speaking tonight with the Premier's about this data about the modeling and analysis that's going on and we look forward to being able to share more information soon go ahead also wondering I'm also wondering if from your you're talking about Canadians not staying home that some are but there are still too many that are not this candidate have the ability and would you consider using that ability to issue a national mandatory stay at home order that would be part of the emergency measures act that could be brought in at this point we've been working very closely with the provinces who themselves have more measures that they have the ability to put in we've seen a certain province bringing in more and more stiff measures we will continue to work with them and the federal emergency measures act really becomes necessary once provinces have exhausted all their significant powers under the emergencies act and we're not quite yet at that point good morning Prime Minister Olivia Stefanovic CBC News other countries have been able to release detailed modeling for example New Zealand is projecting a 65 percent infection rate for its population a 1% fatality rate and also a 20% fatality rate for its elderly Maori people so I'm wondering why your government can't release the modelling you have in your possession right now to help Canadians prepare and to also make sure that Canadians keep following the rules what's stopping you from releasing this information right now one of the things that we'll be talking about tonight with the Premier's is how to make sure that all our various sources of data are aligned so that we can get more accurate models how we make sure that the analysis that we apply to the data that's coming in that's being published daily so Canadians can see it actually makes sense and reflects what's going to happen in Canada what's going to happen in various regions across the country which it will be different from what happens in other countries around the world that is sophisticated modeling work that's being worked on right now that is ongoing and we look forward to sharing more with Canadians in the coming days what are your government's plans for returning cruise ship passengers from Florida how will they get home will they be quarantined or allowed to self isolate at home anyone who returns from overseas needs to be quarantined for 14 days needs to be isolated so that they do not spread kovat 19 in the population we've received many many Canadians who've returned home over the past couple of weeks there's still a few more to come but far less than have already come and those people have been isolating we've been asking people to make sure that they don't stop into the grocery store on the way home from the airport that they go straight home that they isolate that they understand they pose a real risk not just to their neighbors and their loved ones but to our entire country we need to ensure and we will ensure that those people are properly isolated respectfully the question was about these passengers specifically from Florida or how are they going to be getting home and will it be quarantines more specifically or just asked to go home my understanding is they will be a flown home on a charter flight but we we're still looking for those details and we will ensure that they are isolated when they get home we understand that there is a charter flight that will be bringing them back to Canada and of course they will be isolated when they return why not release the numbers now if we're really trying to get Canadians to understand the difference that their behavior makes given the warm weather given people want to go outside if we why not release the numbers now so that they really understand just how much of an impact their behavior will make we have been releasing numbers we've been releasing the data regularly we're improving the quality of the data we're coordinating with the provinces to make sure that the data is consistent right across the country and that is the number is that we are putting through into various models and as we get those models more accurate we look forward to sharing them with Canadians just a switch gears now on China us intelligent reports reveal that China concealed the degree in the severity of the outbreak I'm just wondering does Canada have the similar intelligence and in the past we have said that we trust China and their information do we still trust China and their information we know that countries around the world have been sharing information with each other on their cases and on what has been effective in terms of measures we've learned a lot from South Korea Singapore and other countries we've learned unfortunately a lot from Italy as well in terms of what what worked and what didn't work there we need to keep learning from other countries but we also need to be really thought about how we process and and and understand that information obviously there'll be many many questions as this is all all worked through over the coming months and indeed years on how this was handled what lessons are taken who did well who didn't do as well and who was perhaps not as forthcoming with the global community as they should have been those are questions though for future times our focus right now is on getting through this in a way that keeps Canadians whole and safe there is a great deal of information out there about what various countries have done and we can learn from what has worked or not worked around the globe in the months and years to come there will be a great deal of reflection and analysis as to what country did this how did they manage the crisis and whether there are countries that were not honest with the rest of the world certainly it will be important to know that but for right now our priority and our emphasis is on how we can do things and what we can do to protect Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released new numbers today that said over 800, 000 Canadians all yet no income support during this time these are people that were unemployed or looking for work before the crisis of course they don't qualify for eaj they're not going to get that emergency benefit are you looking at anything to help these people yes absolutely we're looking at ways to help everyone in Canada that needs it the two measures we put forward the wage subsidy through employers and the Canada emergency response benefit will help millions of Canadians but we know that there are many vulnerable people who won't be able to access this support who will need extra help we're making making sure that we're flowing funds through shelters through nonprofits and charitable organizations as well but there will always be more to do to make sure that everyone particularly our most vulnerable are able to keep themselves safe and keep our communities safe by being able to do the right things have the support okay new harness on command we recognize that even with the unprecedented measures we've introduced with the Canada emergency response benefit and help for employers and employees there are people who will not qualify and therefore we're going to continue to work particularly to help the most vulnerable Canadians who need support during this difficult time in order to protect themselves and protect the community so that's why we will continue to reflect and see what we can do to help people so that we can come through this together their provinces to keep people safe of course Quebec and now has police checkpoints along the Ontario border if you enacted the emergency act obviously this could all be uniform in line across the country so should we be locking down each province in lieu of that I think every province is going to look at what its own needs are the northern territories for example brought in very strong measures much earlier on than anyone else because they recognised the extreme vulnerability of remote northern populations to an infectious disease like this one every different province is looking at what measures it needs to take and the federal government will provide the support to all provinces that need need our support as we move forward yes there is a federal emergencies act that we can bring in but as I said the moment to bring that in is really when there are things that the provinces and Canadians need to see done that can't be done by the provinces and we will continue to work very very closely with the provinces and all jurisdictions to ensure that the tools that everyone has a different levels are used as as they need to be a Jew Canada Canada good morning mr.
Trudeau certain medical equipment becomes more difficult to secure are you concerned that the provinces will become more protective of their own PPE and perhaps I'm not as inclined to share is that part of your concerns and will you be discussing this with the Premier's we want to ensure that once that we come through this time where there may not be enough equipment available that we're in a place where Canadian production is sufficient for the entire country and even once we have enough for ourselves to be able to share that equipment with other countries that need it this is something we're working towards now in the meantime we can ensure that all the regions receive all the equipment they need we know that needs are different from one region to another and that's why we're coordinating all of this with the provinces mr.
trudeau you seem to be had a bit of a scratchy throat today so are you still okay are you still healthy oh yes I'm very healthy you know I spend an hour with you every single morning and perhaps maybe I should wear a scarf but no I'm absolutely fine and thank you for asking about it cleared my throat a couple of times today there is absolutely nothing to worry about I have no symptoms of covet it perhaps means that I should get back to wearing my scarf even though it's nice and sunny out this morning but thank you all for your your concern I'm doing just fine give me a favicon fellas okay so Georgie the Lord all right that's the Prime Minister of Canada experiencing the same thing we all do these days if you coffee every one turns and looks at you and wonders if you're okay he says that he is indeed fine let's bring in Vashti cappella and Catherine Cullen who've been standing by and watching the press conference with me I'll just give a couple updates on some equipment updates that I thought the prime minister gave that were important that they received ten million masks over the past number of days and that Bauer is now going to start making face masks instead of hockey gear which I guess makes a whole lot of sense but the primary questioning point and even the message from the Prime Minister today was really around data and how much data and information the Canadian government will be sharing with Canadians given that they had about a week ago said that they would share more and it sounds like that's still the plan but it isn't happening quite yet Vashi yeah Rosie and I thought it was a bit of a pivot from yesterday from the positioning of the federal government and the Prime Minister yesterday and certainly more of an acknowledgement that Canadians are interested in that data and more so the analysis of the data the Prime Minister pointed out that there is transparency right now around the data just sort of raw data right so we get to find out every day from provinces from the federal government how many cases there are how many hospitalizations what the mortality rate is so so that is true but what we are lacking that we have seen at some at some profit provincial levels so in Alberta and BC for example or even south of the border in the United States is more detailed modelling on various scenarios that could play out based on not only projections but current behaviors now as I mentioned yesterday and I would reiterate today the Prime Minister is right that our behaviors right now are going to obviously have a major impact on whatever happens that is why it's so important that we do observe all those rules around physical distancing and everything that we've heard from public health officials but there is a keen interest among the public as has been evidenced throughout other jurisdictions to find out well what kind of possible scenarios are we dealing with based on whether we go full out with mitigation efforts whether some provinces don't etc etc and so what the prime minister said today was that that he acknowledged that that data and that analysis should be provided to Canadians he said it would come soon he didn't when pressed detail what soon meant but he also predicated it on data sharing with the provinces and that information coming from the provinces more testing being done more analysis of that testing and then being sent to the federal government so we're still lacking a very specific clear timeline on when those models will be made available and he was pressed repeatedly about why can't they be right now but there was a more clear I think acknowledgment from the Prime Minister today that Canadians do want to know the analysis they won access to that analysis yeah I mean I think that's only natural as human beings right that we would want a sense of how bad it might get when that might happen when it might be over what kinds of things were looking at the president in the u.
s.
you know did largely have to present that modeling I think for political reasons because he had downplayed the severity of the virus for so many weeks not to mention the way he generally undermines journalism and reporting so it was probably necessary for him in order to give that information to Americans to get them you know fully understanding the concept of it the other thing Catherine that stood up for me and what the prime minister said there was that highlighting a range she said is not as useful as being able to point out what we are likely to face so I mean that suggests to me that even with the data they have which may not be complete given that they're reliant on the provinces for it the that range exists what they are not willing to do is is put that forward because I found to me like they have a lot of faith in the accuracy of it right now anyway because they're still trying to get all that information from provinces yeah he seemed to sort of spell that out at one point when he was talking about the conversation with the premiers that he's gonna have later tonight and he said we want to make sure that the data is aligned we want more accurate models we want to make sure the data will reflect what happens obviously implicit in that is that the information they have right now doesn't go all the way he was also asked and I thought it was a good question by one of our colleagues whether or not he doesn't want to release the data because it's concerned about how people will react right I mean if we look at what happened in the United States and obviously the particulars on the ground there we have to say very different than what's happening in Canada but the numbers that we saw come out of their dealing with their particular scenario quite alarming the Prime Minister didn't really engage with that question he again went back to the idea that people want information they want to know what's gonna happen but as he always does as public health officials do they keep bringing it around to this question of if you want to know what's gonna happen your behavior is gonna influence that one other interesting thing i thought rosie was what he said at the end towards the end there about personal protective equipment and he did say going forward he's not necessarily talking about in the next few days or perhaps even weeks but coming out of this he said that he wants Canada to be self-sufficient when it comes to making that kind of equipment not only enough to supply the whole country but perhaps to supply it to others just some I think of the reflection the government is doing right now in terms of and and not just this government but governments around the world in terms of how prepared they are for something like this well and if it creates for the economic opportunity a new industry out of a pandemic you can see whether that might be useful I'll just I'll end on this so the the promise I guess is there are four for more modeling and for sort of the analysis of the data as vastly rightly points out all those numbers are there I think one of the concerns though that we have certainly been reporting on is the accuracy of the raw data particularly Ontario seems to be struggling to keep up and give a full picture of what is happening and certainly we heard from Canada's chief scientists that that is a concern as well so all the things you know to keep in mind as we're trying to get a better picture of what's unfolding in Canada and how it might unfold in the weeks ahead course important to remember for everyone this is unprecedented and extraordinary so difficult for all of us to wrap our heads around it too I'm gonna just leave both of my colleagues there for a moment as we wait now for the press conference from cabinet ministers and public health officials and and tell you that hospital unions in Ontario actually held a press conference while the prime minister was speaking and they are upset about a new Ontario government policy the union says it endangers some of its workers by excluding them from proper protection from the coronavirus Union officials call it quote cruel and unfair and the president Ontario Council the hospital unions pointed out that there's a high proportion of those in Ontario who have tested positive for kovat 19 and they are healthcare workers there's fear and desperation and and you know a fair bit of anxiety and a feeling of abandonment 97 percent of our members said that they feel abandoned by the provincial government eighty-seven percent of the report shortages of personal protective equipment and in some long-term care facilities the equipment runs out in a day or two and we have an even fell get the full extent of this of this virus we're told that equipment is coming but it never really arrives and there was a huge stockpile as you know of this equipment expired masks on the recommendation of the SARS Commission 55 million masks were stockpiled those masks were allowed to expire many of them were destroyed there's only a million left we're asking that those masks be distributed across the healthcare system the manufacturer says we can still use them the Aunt May says they're fine and we would like them to be distributed we're like the government to take to take immediate action to direct industry to a ramped up production there's a lot of unused capacity in Ontario private sector that can be put to use and we okay and that is Michael Hurley from the hospital's Union and obviously this conversation around shortage of personal protective equipment like masks and gowns is a big concern for health care workers right now you heard from the Prime Minister ten million more masks I have arrived over the past number of days dr.
Alan Drummond is an emergency room doctor and he joins me now from Perth Ontario good to see you doctor good days so I know it's about 1 out of 10 health care workers make up the cogut 19 cases inside this province can you tell me how you are feeling about how well-equipped you are when you go into work well I actually I feel that I'm maximally prepared for the circumstances that are forthcoming we are being careful with our personal protective equipment some would say rationing I don't think we're quite there yet to be honest with you in a sense that our departments are largely fairly quiet it's the calm before the storm and so the the equipment we have currently I think is adequate for the current circumstance if however this amounts to something significant in terms of the critical care load of people with who need to intubation a ventilation of course the concern is do we have the adequate about 95 s and so forth so it's a it's a work in progress I think most immerse departments across this country or are seeing a kind of a quietness a calm and we're okay but I think it would be fair to say that almost emergency physicians the nurses are anxious about adequate protection and equipment and we hope that these promises materialized into actually cartons of stuff arriving at our doors so when you say you're not quite at rationing things where are you then you're cautious when you're using equipment because you don't feel you have a stockpile within the hospital or or describe to me where you think you're at so you know right now the emergency departments across this country are fairly quiet and that's either because the people are getting the messenger but social distance safe or because there's panic and fear and so the volumes aren't there yes we are starting to see Kovac patients even in my small town but the level of you know people requiring critical care intervention is fairly fairly low and so therefore you know using sort of droplet precautions it's probably adequate at this point that's not to say however that we're not you know concerned because we understand from our colleagues in both Italy in New York City that it's not a gentle urban flow suddenly they just appear on your door and you're overwhelmed and so we need to have some kind of personal assuredness that these aren't just promises that these will materialize in the coming days actually so what are your concerns around your you know your town in Perth and the capacity if there is a surge obviously it would be you know sort of not just in your area but if there was a surge would you be with the hospital be prepared for it well we have been preparing you know over the last several weeks we we've had this bit of lead time where we could see what's happened in Italy in New York City and I think it's fair to say that both our Hospital as well as merge departments across this country have taken at anytime and channeled a lot of the anxiety into a positive energy and preparedness we can't predict what's going to happen all we can say is that we will do our absolute best given the circumstances that present so we are as prepared as we are going to be I think in terms of the emergency department setting in terms of would we be overwhelmed locally in Perth the answer is absolutely yes we have one negative pressure room we have one ventilator for a hospital of 50 people and serves a community of 25, 000 you may have heard about my colleague dr.
la noche a GP Anisa tisk who jerry-rigged for anaesthetic machines to allow us to ventilate eight further patients so he's taking our ventilator capacity from one to nine in about ten minutes and jerry-rigging and so yeah whereas we can't be and we'll do our best again if we are overwhelmed we're overwhelmed all we can look do is look after the patient in front of us on the stretcher with one eye to what's happening in the waiting room the ambulance offload ramp and the other eye I guess of our third eye to greater societal demands and what the community will need so it's part of the clinical equation now it's not just the patient in front of us but but our greater community at you know and their time of need I only have about 30 seconds doctor but are you are you worried about yourself are you worried about going into work how concerned are you for your own well-being so I'm 66 and I'm at a higher risk I suppose but no I'm not concerned I mean I'm obviously careful and my wife reminds me constantly to wash my hands and all that kind of thing and I am I'm doing all the right things I'm almost eating tofu but but but the bottom line is it's my job it's my communities we're gonna serve and we're gonna we're gonna live up to the challenge doctor so good to talk to you it's been such a I have to say such a pleasure getting to speak with so many medical professionals during all this you are impressive human beings a good luck doctor and we'll check in as things unfold all the best alright that's dr.
Alan Drummond who as you see also has to be reminded to watch his hand so it's not just it's not just you it's also doctors all right we're standing by now for an update from federal cabinet ministers and public health officials you watching CBC News I am rosemary Barton we'll see you back here tomorrow [Music] hello and welcome back I am rosemary Barton here in the nation's capital bringing you coverage of the Cova 19 pandemic how the federal government is responding and coping trying to contain both the pandemic and some of the extraordinary measures that are putting being put in place to shore up the Canadian economy at the same time we have just heard from the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talking about more personal protective equipment that has arrived over the past 24 hours we have also hit a milestone in this country marking now 10, 000 cases the Prime Minister set to speak with premiers later today about how well equipped their provinces are for what many believe will be a critical number of weeks ahead let me show you a little bit more of what the prime minister said moments ago I know a lot of people are still wondering when this will get better or how much how much worse it might become you want to see the numbers and the predictions you want to wake up in the morning and look online for the latest more credible data you can find you want to plan you want to prepare for the worst you want to know what to be hopeful about I know and we'll have more information keeping coming to you with it soon but the biggest variable in shaping these projections is you and your behavior you must listen to the world-class doctors who are already sharing the best available information and advice ignoring them puts lives at risk it's up to you to do the right thing while many of you are staying home and limiting trips to the grocery store too many still aren't what the experts are telling us is that we must do everything we can today and tomorrow to set us on the right path for next week and next month it takes time for the effects of our actions to be felt so if we don't want our hospitals to be overwhelmed so if we don't want our hospitals to be overwhelmed in the coming weeks we need to make the right choices and we need to make them now that's the Prime Minister of Canada speaking to Canadians today about not only the promise of some more information to come there's a lot of raw data out there as we heard from the Prime Minister certainly that is the case if you go on the coronavirus website but it's analyzing that information what it means what it might mean going forward for all of us that lots of people still have questions about but the central message from the Prime Minister and and I'm sure we will get it again today from federal officials federal cabinet ministers is if you want to change the outcome of that data your the best advice is to do what they are telling you to do stay home and limit your contact with other people your physical contact with other people my colleagues power and politics Travis Bashi cappellas in the CBC's Catherine : joining me now as well I you know talking to these medical professionals is so you know you know you really you really I am very deeply impressed by them in terms of that there are fearlessness in the face of all of this but it seemed clear from from that emergency room doctor in Perth that they sort of have enough for now but what what they would like to know is that there will be enough when they get to the point where they have this onslaught of cases potentially and there was some news around personal protective equipment today to Vashi yeah there was the Prime Minister announced that there are there have been about 10 million masks that have arrived in the past few days and that they are being sort of accounted for and validated and then they can be distributed this question though of supply is such an important one right now as we head into what public health officials have been telling us you know over the next few weeks could be sort of not peak but a surge in in various parts of the country and so I think while we keep asking people we are talking to who are on the front lines do you have enough do you think you're going to have enough that second question the follow-up about whether they think they're gonna have enough is so dependent on what happens right now how they all observe those behaviors and so sometimes it's difficult to assess but we and it also as I said earlier it really does depend on what facility you're in it also depends on which province you live in and there are so many various accounts of it the one thing that I would also highlight from a federal level it sounds like that'll be a big part of the discussion with the various premiers tonight that call is expected I think to take place around 5:30 Eastern between the Prime Minister and the Premier's it is a bit confusing from my perspective because the answer to whether we have enough has changed a bit over the past few days so at first the Prime Minister said we have all current needs covered and for the foreseeable future obviously the foreseeable future I don't know exactly what that means but then we started hearing accounts from individual provinces particularly Quebec and the premier there that said I don't have enough I'm worried about the next three to five days and we've asked various ministers well how does that sort of match up with what you were saying and it's because the there is a difference in the weight you know each province is sort of calculating how bad it can get and how much they're going to need but we've also heard from nurses around the front lines saying we don't have what we need in long term care homes for example right so it is difficult to figure out from my perspective if there is enough obviously there are many efforts underway to secure more but will more also be enough in the future again that depends on how things go right now so it's difficult to find sort of a straightforward answer to that question but it sounds like today the Prime Minister acknowledged you know and yesterday the Health Minister that maybe the stockpile the the federal government has isn't going to be enough for provinces and then you compound that with all the competition around the world even south of the border for those supplies it's not going to be easy no and there may not be a straightforward answer as you rightly point out for all of those those factors I should say that Minister Anita Anand the Minister of procurement and public services has tweeted that a plane carrying goods purchased from manufacturers in China arrived safely in Toronto last night she goes on to say this signals the arrival of some additional orders for goods needed in our fight against kovat right now I would also imagine Catherine that you know if if the cases really start to take off in one region of the country and not another you could probably move things around I would imagine part of the the collaboration that the Prime Minister is talking about is also that that that premiers will step up if if needed in certain places and he was actually asked by one of our call rosemary whether or not he's worried that as this goes on provinces will be less willing to share you know the Prime Minister has put the emphasis on on I guess a collaborative attitude up until this point and going forward as well we did get that acknowledgement yesterday from Health Minister patty high do that no really the stockpile is perhaps not as prepared as they might have hoped that it was and that all governments around the world are going to be taking a closer look at the situation you know learning from this as it's happening but in the meantime obviously there are a lot of health care workers who are very concerned about this the the Prime Minister talking as well about the goal of making Canada self-sufficient when it comes to supplying this kind of protective equipment something that we're working on something that we should note that they're putting a lot of money into even right now as we speak trying to get other businesses to become involved in this too as well our colleagues at Radio Canada though reporting about how fierce the competition is for this noting that in one case the United States according to what they're hearing actually bought a bunch of masks that were destined for France right off the tarmac in China taking them away from France by offering to pay three times the price so it's just one example not necessarily representative of everything that's going on out there but one that certainly raises eyebrows and the Prime Minister was also asked about collaboration with the United States on this issue again he talks about the importance of working together collaboration although it's clear that's not always what's happening internationally no it's it's a very competitive market for a limited amount of supplies and all that stuff as batchi said it comes in it still has to be verified by Health Canada to make sure that it's up to the standards that that we expect and it explains in large part why as you as you both rightly point out industry is trying to get online as quickly as possible to to create some of this stuff in-house so that the the competition aspect the procurement of this aspect of this probably probably you know isn't needed as much I think we have about two minutes till cabinet ministers arrive here so I think I'm going to stick with that yes I will all right so we are expecting an update here from cabinet ministers and public health officials on sort of the measures the federal government is taking today the state of play in this country right now in fighting the pandemic after hearing of course from the prime minister who is going to speak to provinces tonight at around 5:30 to get a handle on how the provinces are doing what might be needed from that perspective I believe today we will also hear from the Minister of Foreign Affairs Global Affairs mr.
Sean pine about repatriation efforts there are more and more flights that have been scheduled from India from Pakistan from countries around the world to try and get Canadians back as that diplomatic effort consular effort continues as well I believe he is there to give us an update to here's the Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in our fight against the coronavirus Canadians must continue to practice physical distancing stay strong and stay at home unless you are doing essential work like stocking the shelves of our grocery stores or working on the front lines of our health care system I know that we as Canadians are resilient things are going to get worse before they get better but I know that working together we are gonna get through this asaji dancing this is a critical week in our fight against this virus Canadians must continue to practice physical distancing stay strong and stay at home unless you are doing essential work such as feeling shelves at the grocery store or if you're providing health care Canadians are resilient we are going to get through this crisis together today we will hear from Canada's chief Public Health Officer dr.
Teresa Tam Nene's but they'sa will hear from the Minister of Foreign Affairs mr.
champagne services Mark Miller a new prezi don't do Canseco the president of the Treasury Board drive to close course with us today are also the Minister of Health Patti hi you the chief medical officer of health at indigenous services dr.
Tom Wong and the deputy chief Public Health Officer dr.
Howard knew dr.
Tam please well Joe so as usual I start with an update on the numbers of covert 19 cases in Canada there are now ten thousand four hundred and sixty-six cases including a hundred and eleven deaths these represent infections from previous exposures and not what is happening right now necessarily so even if you're not hearing of cases in your community it doesn't mean there is no risk of exposure we must all consider that anyone could be infected and keeping our two meter distance is the safest bet so we continue to test at a very high rate in Canada one of the highest in the world with tests completed for over 260, 000 people already around three and a half percent of these people have been confirmed as positive and ninety-five percent also as confirmed as negative so we talked about these percentages well what does it mean so Canada has been maintaining around this is a three to four percent positivity rate which is within a good range for accurate detection of where the disease is circulating the whu-oh for instance suggests somewhere between 3 to 12% even so if we drop below this for example to 1% positive for example it may mean they were actually casting I'll let that – what we're testing a lot of people who might not otherwise really needed testing people with mild illnesses who are not in the area of Canada where the disease is circulating for instance and/or you're testing too early of course sometimes the test is not 100% and some people might need to be retested but it shows that we have a very highly sensitive testing system of course we are continuing to increase our laboratory capacity to make sure that that is still the case so the number of cases and outbreaks connected to higher settings continue to be reported at a very concerning rate and in particular long term care facilities are being affected in high numbers and as well as reports of some hospital facilities with healthcare workers impacted at least 50 deaths are related to long-term care homes seen their residences and other care facilities I cannot stress enough that we absolutely must double down to prevent the acceleration of spread in these settings this means strike public health and infection control policies to minimize the risk of an introduction at these facilities it also means that every one of us must take all precautions for people who are not essential workers this might mean staying away from long term care facilities while finding ways to keep in touch with loved ones using virtual means such as a phone call or video is not quite the same but staying connected has never been more important jalaja pet uncle once again I must stress spares no one additional data we're seeing age groups the consequences of this illness have been severe and fatal in under 40 years have also experienced severe illness for over ten percent of hospitalizations with some reports of critical illness at least one death disease fast no one each day as we get additional data we are seeing that all age groups are impacted the consequences of this illness have been severe and fatal in older and medically vulnerable Canadians but adults under 40 years of age have also experienced severe illness accounting for over 10 percent of hospitalizations with some reports of critical illness and at least one death many Canadians are using the innovation creativity and ingenuity to think outside of our bubble and help plank the curve we need gamers youtubers tick-tock snapchat users to join our effort and spread the word to hashtag stay home thank you thank you dr.
Tim and Matt noise are done laptop now I give the floor to mr.
Xiang pang the Minister of Foreign Affairs thank you very much Deputy Prime Minister good morning everyone roughly two weeks ago began what was to be the largest repatriation operation in it's peacetime history as of today in cooperation with various airlines and several of my counterparts from many governments we had facilitated the return of thousands of Canadians on over 40 flights and from some 30 countries and coming days other flights will allow Canadians to return from Peru India Pakistan Poland Cuba Trinidad and Tobago and from very various African countries on board cruise ships and various locations also have been able to return to Canada yesterday evening we received the good news board design dem would soon probably return home once the ship docks in Florida which we hope will be later today according to the latest information that we received Canadians returning home are all looking forward to be reunited with their families and loved ones but before they can do that as the minister of health has said many times in dr.
Tam I want to take this opportunity to remind them of their obligation to self isolate for 14 days this is the law .
this is not the time to stop by the grocery store on the way home from the airport our ability to overcome this pandemic depends on everyone behaving responsibly for their own health and safety for the health and safety of their loved ones their neighbors and their communities in closing i would like to say a word to canadians who are still stranded abroad I understand fully your anxiety I read your messages and I understand your desire to come home we are working literally around the clock and doing everything we can to bring you home as quickly as possible but I have to say to Canadians we are facing the most unprecedented challenge that we have ever faced in trying to bring people home whether it's about airport closure airspace closure border closures restriction in some countries we are working around the clock to overcome these barriers to bring you home I must however repeat something I've said before unfortunately despite our very best efforts it will most likely not be possible to ensure the return of all Canadians who wish to come home for those Canadian abroad who were watching us in the meantime I want to say please continue to follow the recommendations of local health authorities and take precautions necessary to protect your health and safety we will assist you in every way we can Lara pause do not be our country's response to this Cove in 1910 Zdenek has highlighted the best of what we are as Canadians the strength of our values sentiment of solidarity and our resilience and these exceptional circumstances Thank You Deputy Prime Minister Nancy France with you thank you very much Francois Philippe you're from the Minister indigenous services mark Miller mark please wait on say look with say go or jewel good afternoon good morning over the last week Indigenous Services Canada has sent out significant personal protection supplies and is continuing to respond to asks with urgency we've announced and are in the midst of transferring three hundred and five million directly to indigenous communities across Canada and we are continuing to be focused on supporting the most vulnerable of the vulnerable a victor Skinner's level with everything we've done to date focusing on being flexible and rapid so that people will get what they need to meet their needs notably by distributing food and giving material to those who are isolated or in quarantine school supplies for children help for child care and essential workers there have been a total of 15 confirmed cases of kovat 19 in indigenous communities communities are taking exceptional measures to prevent the spread of virus including restricting travel in and out of communities self isolation and Quarantine of returning travels travelers and we will continue to adapt plans and provide surge capacity as the situation evolves I will reiterate that hand-washing and physical distancing remains one of the most effective ways to prevent and slow the onset of kovat 19 I say all this in consciousness of the fact that there is a historical mistrust of government in a number of indigenous communities this is a gap that needs to be filled by indigenous leadership and they're they're filling it exceptionally well but it does provide it does it does create a barrier to getting that important message out and as always indigenous leadership is stepping up and I want to acknowledge that during this pandemic many other challenges may arise for example we want to ensure First Nation youth and care who reached the age of majority is defined by provinces and territories continued to receive the supports they need for the next six months at a minimum we will continue to cover the eligible costs to First Nations Child and Family Services to youth who would have otherwise aged out of care again taking care of those that are most vulnerable some provinces have undertaken this change already and I would encourage others to consider doing the same and support a vulnerable indigenous youth is that only good ma come on First Nations or ordered First Nations with upcoming elections to not hold them for the time being given current public health risks associated with seas we're working directly with these communities for temporary solution to meet their needs this will guarantee that there won't be any gaps in govern they do decide to move ahead with elections as it is their right they will be giving the global giving them instructions about measures to take to protect members of their communities unique challenges faced by unique communities including the essential access of air transportation were therefore working closely with intimate partners provinces and territories and the public health agency of Canada to ensure adequate preparedness supplies and response levels in any communities we're exploring a number of options to support a central air transportation and ensure that service continuity is provided unfortunately kovat 19 is not the only challenges that indigenous communities may face in the coming weeks but it can compound it as we head into spring and flood season in particular we're working closely with First Nations that are at risk of flooding we're working together to ensure that communities are as prepared as possible for emergencies and have solid flood mitigation strategies and responses in place while ensuring we protect communities against the spread of kovat 19 I want to reassure everyone that we will continue to support first nation matey and Nina wait in responding to natural disasters such as floods or fires and we will continue to work with regional health and provincial partners to make sure that First Nations made T and any we'd have the health services and supports throughout this difficult times we've seen a lot of measures taken by communities to protect their populations and I want to recognize their important work the work of health leadership and political leadership and the strength they have shown but let me be clear this is just the beginning we know more support will be needed and we will be there to make sure no indigenous community is left behind Canada is here to support you during this uncertain time meegwetch marsinah Kui thank you Messi Yan go thank you Mark aim at knowledge Adan now I'm giving the floor to the president of the Treasury Board mr.
du Clos thank you very much Chris Jen good morning everyone let's be clear the coming weeks will be very determinants not just enough to say how to take everything will be fine we're counting on citizens to follow public health guidelines and this will allow us to protect ourselves as well as those who are protecting us namely all those in the healthcare sector who are on the front lines who are working hard private sector as well who are working hard to protect us after the key announcement yesterday about emergency wage subsidies that the Canadian government will be giving I would like to ensure all sectors of the economy notably the cultural sector that all companies and organizations that are receiving public funding are eligible for the wage subsidy from the Canadian government to add following yesterday's important announcement on the Canada emergency wage subsidies and would add for the attention of all sectors in particular for the attention of the cultural sector that all businesses and organizations that are receiving public fund or eligible to the Canada emergency wage subsidies okay Matthew Johnny thank you jive now we'll be ready to answer your questions Minister as usual we'll take three questions on the phone and then turn to the room one question won't follow up operator thank you the first question is from Alina Jim from the price can add an please go ahead what's running into after the floor is yours good morning minister hi do so more and more people are asking for scenarios that you have or don't have and the Prime Minister this morning said that you first want to make sure that the data is consistent so I want to hear you on how consistent is the data especially from Ontario and/or and maybe also from British Columbia are you are you okay with the numbers that you see do you think they do represent the reality for the question and I'll start and then turned out dr.
Tam for some specifics first of all I echo the Prime Minister statement that in order to do modelling we need accurate data and the provinces and territories have been working really hard to get to a place where they can provide us with that we have facilitated that by providing portals and all kinds of other technical support for them be able to provide as much granular data as possible of course all of that data feeds up into the modelers that we're using both within the government of Canada and a number of other modelers that are professional modelers from from our academic societies and research community and the reason why this is a difficult question to answer is because it's because so it's because each particular scenario depends on a number of different a number of different measures so let's just take for example you know what we could anticipate in terms of the volume of deaths in Canada in order to actually answer that question we actually have to get a better handle on how many people we anticipate will be infected in Canada based on what we currently see in terms of infection rates of course that's dependent on the number of measures that are taken in various jurisdictions and how stringently they're being applied or listened to by Canadians and it also depends on the number of Canadians that end up hospitalized and in some cases intensively care using intensive care services and all that depends on whether or not Canadians are able to apply those own measures in their own lives and so that's why it's very hard to give modelling that's that's accurate having said that that's the work that we're doing right now to give Canadians a better sense and the days to come you know should we be able to see a outcome a moderate outcome a more severe outcome and what kinds of decisions what kinds of measures and what kinds of capacities would effect those outcomes so I'll turn to dr.
Tam and maybe you can speak specifically about the work that you're doing to get that data from provinces that will help us with that modeling work you know I think everyone is working really hard to get the information right now I would say that we are looking at how do we interpret the information we received as well so when we talk about modeling there are many different types of modeling there are scenarios for planning purposes where you could hypothetically so to look at well how many percentage of population may get sick and sort of plan ahead at your hospital beds for example but what we're doing with province is it's taking take the data that we have now the number of positive cases and confirmed cases to see if we can track where we're heading but you can't go too far you can't see the gas you know months down the road what you're looking at is whether the numbers those numbers that we get reported every day are pointing towards us in a certain direction whether that curve is spending so we're looking at well let's try and figure out is that curve bending is it still actually in early days as we've all said the next week's will be very important we're not expecting to see too much at this point in setting up the curve and looking at whether it's bending what we're doing is fine-tuning the interpretation of our information BC for example we need to know for exactly what happened to the testing strategy as I've just said the testing strategy depends on where you are in the epidemic curve okay why than that you might be casting or more focused so until we get the precise so the nature of the exact testing strategy and each point in time will help us to see if we can compare the data from each of the jurisdictions and it's not an easy piece of work just because people are tested or over the country and we need to make sure we understand how to interpret now Public Health of course as I said don't just move on perfect data we will take what we have and we will make the most of that in terms of giving us our best interpretation as to where this epidemic is heading and we also do have to unpack it for each of the different areas of Canada they're not experiencing exactly the same outbreak and the same trajectories so we are dependent on each of the jurisdictions and helping them where they don't have the modeling capacity to get that done within each of the provinces and territories okay so if I can doctor minister haider if I can go back to Ontario monomyth who is the concierge on chic.
you Canada was saying this morning that was what she's seeing apparently Ontario is not testing enough and they should be and she's preoccupied do you share her concern about the way Ontario is handling the situation thank you for the question I'm gonna turn that directly to dr.
Tam because she is much more closely linked with the public health officers of Ontario and what can answer it from a more precise place Thanks so I think the evolution of the outbreak is as I said the timing and everything is a little bit different BC started a little bit earlier I think the Ontario situation and on Tara is a very vast place so and it's at some of the beginnings of that epidemic curve so I think that we will provide support as much as possible to Ontario to enhance their testing capabilities for sure we want to absolutely though as I said test and focus the testing in the most high-risk situations if you like you must test the long term care facilities health care workers and all of those situations where the test results in a significant public health action so you must control those outbreaks so making sure that's where you're focusing is very important for Ontario particularly for example in the Toronto area right now it may be reasonable then to cast a net why they and elsewhere in Toronto in Ontario where the disease epidemiology might be a bit different so so it's not a very simple answer but all I can say is they need more testing capacity we will we are absolutely working together to make sure that capacity is improving and we can certainly provide you more information in the upcoming days thank you doctor operator question system next question thank you the next question is from Jamie passes gums come from APTN please go ahead your line is now open we're sending you to it thank you my question is concerning Canada's prisons and jails with people with respiratory illness they may see that this epidemic is almost a death sentence seven what is the committee doing for them [Applause] thank you for the question we are very aware of the particular challenges that people in jail and the people working in jails and prisons face in this situation Minister Blair is very seized of this issue and addressed it at the Cova nineteen cabinet committee earlier this week he and his team are working very hard to ensure that protective measures are in place to protect both inmates and guards you're quite right to focus on this issue and we are as well and Minister Blair is looking at whether further action may be necessary and if I could just add dr.
Tam has a few words because she's been working on this issue as well so correctional facilities are one of the high-risk settings and they are precisely when we talk about lab testing we need to be able to provide lab testing to those settings they are one of the highest priority areas for focusing our lab test capabilities we provide guidance to these type of settings and also the medical offices of at the federal level at the Correctional Services Canada is part of our group of chief medical officers who are you know constantly looking at the evidence and looking at how best to protect this population but of course the key is not to introduce this virus into that setting so the preventive measures which are you know really really important I can't stress enough about that so absolutely double down in prevention of entry of the virus thank you doctor operator one last question on the phone before we turn to the front after the room sorry I had a follow-up yes sorry yeah my question is for mr.
Miller you mentioned the 305 million going out to communities has that good futures clarify have that begun now our communities now receiving this money Thank You Jamie two things have occurred we had emergency funds in her in our regional offices that have been disbursed that is only a fraction and not included in the 305 million that has the best of my knowledge been distributed over the course of the weekend my regional offices sent out letters on late Friday early Saturday morning confirming the individual community allocations those have been received and disbursement is expected to occur within the next week Thank You minister operator next question thank you the next question is from many vessels from another wall please go ahead looking into relatives we've opened good morning this is for you unless it's for dr.
Tim I'd like to go back to the medical equipment that was promised to Quebec yesterday it was said that some equipment would be delivered in the next two days I'd like to know it's going to be shipped to Quebec what equipment is being being shipped what quantity of that equipment is being shipped and also on the 10 million masks that the prime minister mentioned was just delivered and is going to be redistributed to provinces can you tell me what proportion of that is going to go to Quebec please oh thank you very for the question and I'll just give you some numbers I know there's a lot of interest in personal protective equipment and what's gone out since the start of the week we've received in Canada over 10 million masks as the Prime Minister said thanks in large part to a company called Medicom and overnight we received a shipment of 1.
1 million masks from a supplier that has now arrived in Hamilton we've also validated a donation of 500, 000 math from the Jack Ma Foundation in the last 24 hours and another 700, 000 from our government stockpile which will be going out to provinces and territories very quickly and these masts along with thousands of gloves and swabs are being distributed across Canada we are also in the process of shipping 174 ventilators and more are being dispatched and we have more shipments on the way and the procurement minister and her team are doing an amazing job in a very incredibly difficult procurement landscape in terms of the allocation of what's going where that work is happening with the petrov with the provinces and territories through the special advisory committee that teresa works with through and through the deputy ministers of health that is a very difficult as you can imagine conversation but important one because the provinces and territories are working incredibly collaboratively to make sure that not only their needs are met but that we can anticipate surges in parts of the country as they occur so I cannot give you specific numbers of which provinces and territories have received what certainly you can ask various ministers of health at the provincial level if that's the information they want to share but at the federal level what I will say is we are very encouraged by the collaborative nature of these conversations in a very difficult time and that's what we need to see we need to see Canada pulling together provinces and territories obviously preparing for their own particular scenarios and their own particular surges but also to be understanding that if product is needed across the country in an area where there is a surge that they will be there to help their fellow Canadians and we have seen every indication that that's what's happening thanks for all the numbers I appreciate it maybe then if you can't give me the specific numbers can you tell me how all those resources are being allocated and what I mean is is it in a percentage of where there are the most dire needs they get a bigger percentage or is it simply through the regular proportion of the population of Canada so I eat Quebec in Ontario would get about 20 25 percent and my other question is we've seen some small smaller distributors in Canada who are trying to order shipments of medical equipment but are getting sort of audited by the US amongst others and they can't keep up in the bidding war essentially and I wonder if there's any potential role for the federal government could the center of them government sort of take over being in charge of all these orders of medical equipment to avoid that smaller distributors distributors get outfitted so that's technically two questions we'll ask them both answer them both so on the allocation formula part of it is population-based and part of it is held back for need so it's a really careful formula that's built around the kind of population that people have but also the ability to rapidly redeploy resources to an area where we see a surge so those proportions are being worked on right now and at the end of the day what we would like to see and what we're getting to is the consensus from all provinces and territories that the formula meets their needs and that they are comfortable with that formula in terms of bidding wars and people scooping orders and all the other kinds of crazy things that are happening in the procurement space of personal protective equipment certainly I've heard those stories as well and that's why we're encouraging provinces and territories to work as closely with us to do bulk procuring at the federal level it does give us bigger clout when Canada Team Canada is buying things in Canada the full weight of Canada's behind those orders and those those logistics that go into actually getting product from many countries but particularly China in terms of that work obviously we know that provinces and territories do have separate orders and we encourage them to communicate that to us so that we can keep an eye on those orders and assist them as well with any logistical challenges that they're having we've procured with contracted services for domestic distribution through Amazon and other other providers and that will help make sure things can get to places very quickly in Canada but we also have the capacity to help them with orders that are stranded around the world may I see Menominee News : thank you question from the room my question my question is for Minister Freeland given the news that has broken around a potential agreement on oil curtail instead of with OPEC I'm wondering does Canada support global coordinated cuts and oil production and is it involved in talks with the US the Saudi Arabians and Russia or others about limiting production we are very aware of those reports today and we have been concerned for some time about the ways in which the actions of Russia and Saudi Arabia have disrupted the world energy market that has had grave consequences for the Canadian energy sector and for the Canadian economy more broadly and that is something we are really focused on Canada has been in very close contact with the United States about this issue I have spoken with secretary Pompeo about it our ambassador Kirsten Hillman has been working closely with the State Department on this issue and we have also been in close touch with both the province of Alberta and leaders in the Canadian energy sector just late last night I spoke to Premier Kenny about many things but very much including the global energy market and also with Russ Girling and Minister O'Regan has been in very close touch with his Alberta counterpart and also with his US counterpart so we have been very engaged we are watching the situation closely and are very involved oh is Canada considering participating in a global coordinated effort to curtail oil production let me just say that this is a very fast-moving situation the current situation in the global energy markets is something that we're very concerned about the impact on Canada on the Canadian energy sector and on the Canadian economy more broadly has been very negative at a time when our economy is suffering a lot of other strains it's too early to say how this situation is going to develop but we're very closely engaged and I would also like to say premier Kenny is very involved and he has also been personally involved in conversations with the US and that has also been very helpful Thank You Deputy Prime Minister in what CTV mr.
Freeland there where should people make up the shortfall that Serb isn't going to cover should they run up their credit cards or search for payday loans or lines of credit there hasn't been much forward thinking or outlook on in terms of what happens after four months of receiving Serb and they've run up debt where should they get that credit I don't really agree with many of the premises packed into that question but let me just say the following Government of Canada very much understands that the impact of the coronavirus both on the global economy and on the Canadian economy has been huge and we also understand that the steps we are strongly urging Canadians to take to protect the health and safety of all of us have a devastating economic impact in and of themselves and that's why the government has stepped up with the largest economic response in Canadian history to support the Canadian economy with the Serb to support people who have lost their jobs or can't work because of the coronavirus with the 75% age subsidy that in and of itself is the single biggest economic program of any Canadian government and with huge injections of liquidity into the financial system to allow banks to lend this is truly an immense response and that's right it is commensurate with the size of the issue now you asked what happens after four months and to that point I would like to say to Canadians this situation is under constant review I don't have a crystal ball and dr.
Tam doesn't have a crystal ball no one does but what I can assure Canadians is we will do whatever it takes for how ever long it takes to keep individual Canadians able to not just get by but really support themselves in a decent way and to keep Canadian companies whole and sound so you know we are here for the long term obviously and the Government of Canada truly has the fiscal firepower to do whatever it takes no g7 country entered this crisis in a stronger fiscal position than Canada and that really should reassure Canadians that we we are there for them today these economic measures are huge and we are gonna be there for them for however long we need to before the Canadian economy you know until the crisis ends and it will this will end we can't say exactly when but we know it's going to end and when it does our job as a government is to be sure that individual Canadians and Canadian businesses are able to come roaring back all right my my second question I'll get to in a segment what I meant to clarify was are we providing are we asking banks to defer personal loans so much as same actions we've taken with businesses but my second question is for mr.
Champaign and also mr.
Hyde you and dr.
Towne partly US intelligence yesterday it was reported that they've shown that China had taken steps to cover up the outbreak when it initially happened and continuing thereafter under reporting numbers information to the w-h-o you know and their stories of them discrediting one of the doctors that discovered this – do we trust China to provide accurate information to the Canadian government and also if we're making projections based on outcomes globally and also what we're seeing here at home how can we be assured of accurate modeling if the country were that was the center of the outbreak has been low-balling or hiding its data well I would say it first off we are very concerned about this information I just had a call with the NATO allies a few hours ago Canada gets its data from the World Health Organization we trust the international human bodies to provide accurate information to different bodies around the world we will continue to do that but I can assure that we're very much aware of the stories that are going around the world we need to speak with one voice as they brought democracies and hopf holding obviously facts and science-based approach when it comes to a crisis like that people watching at home deserve answers the deserve data to deserve the truth when it comes to actual data and I can assure you that not only we're working with the g7 the g20 partners and NATO this morning we are well aware of the fact that we need to work on the multilateral basis to provide the most accurate information so that not only Canada ken's base its assessment on on data but also other allies and I can assure you this is there there's never been a better time to cooperate consult and quote and and coordinate in the world when it comes to this this is an enemy that is invisible and knows no border so we're all committed in putting resources to fight it but I'll turn over to minister haider if she wants to provide additional on that well I think the most important thing that my colleague mentioned was that we don't rely on any one country's source of data in fact it's a World Health Organization that coordinates the data from all countries dr.
Tam is a special adviser to the committee that's been working on the pandemic since the very early days dr.
Bruce Aylward led the World Health Organization committee to China to do the investigation of what was happening what they could determine on the ground in terms of China's capacity to have a full understanding of what was happening there's no indication that the data that came out of China in terms of their infection rate and their death rate was falsified in any way in fact if you look at the death rate overall in China it's much higher than the one we're seeing now and so we we rely on the World Health Organization to do this important work because of course we're all in this together and I think one of the most important things to understand about this pandemic this global pandemic is that as long as coronavirus exists in one country and it exists in all of our countries that we actually have to work collectively as a world now to defeat this virus to find better ways to treat and then eventually prevent this virus through vaccination or other kinds of methods and that's going to take everybody working together Laurie please let her finish so I would say that your question is feeding into conspiracy theories that many people have been perpetuating on the Amith on the Internet and it's important to remember that there is no way to beat a global pandemic if we're actually not willing to work together as a globe we will have to come up with a global solution to this virus no country is an island and I am so proud of the Canadian researchers that are part of the World Health Organization solidarity project that are working on developing vaccines and treatments for this virus that undoubtedly are going to be a big part of the solution about how we all get ourselves out the situation Thank You Minister Julie Van Dusen CBC MS hi do we know that hundreds of foreign trained doctors really want to help out in this situation we know that they have past required tests but they haven't been certified yet by officials we're pointed to the fact that one of the first Syrian refugees who arrived here in 2015 is a doctor who wants to help out but he can't so is there any way to facilitate getting these doctors into the system a general statement and then maybe dr.
Tam this has come up on your special Advisory Committee calls the short answer is yes provinces and territories are looking at every possible way to get more health care professionals on the frontline including asking retired professionals to come back including accelerating exams for those who are close to graduating from a variety of different professions and including looking at how we actually better get at the credentialing of health care professionals for other countries it's a difficult piece of work but I'm sure dr.
Tam has more specific updates yes I mean it's important to look at in every angle at improving our health human resource during a difficult time so Health Canada actually has initiated a recruitment approach whereby and I don't know if it's actually launched on the website and that essentially is asking people who had the skill sets to do public health like contact tracing and other skills that provinces are looking for to actually apply to that portal it's not the same as getting your license have to say that is a provincial licensure area but we would like people who think they can help in the health response to be applying through that particular portal can question is for dr.
Tim so at the Health Committee in January you said that even though it was possible for people with symptoms to spread the virus it's rare so now that we know it's not rare I'm just wondering if you regret being so definitive people with sim people with symptoms are obviously very important in the spread of this virus we always you know obviously looking at science as it involves and we have of course had cases that are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic what we didn't know before was how much that's that play in the force of transmission and you actually have to unpack that science a bit and this is it very much life in terms of the scientific community rather in terms of its analysis it may depend on what setting you in as to whether that particular component play any part in driving the actual outbreak so as i've said this areas like our long-term care facilities we now have to look at well what does this mean exactly if particularly in patients or our residents who can't really describe their symptoms or doesn't really you know there may be pre-symptomatic so all of this is very much currently being integrated in terms of the scientific analysis and so if we have to change our approach we will according cuz this is just the science that's building up right now merci docteur thank you we're going to return back to the phones for three questions the next question is from Michigan Laflamme Ricardo Canada your line is open [Music] thank you my question is for dr.
Tam I would like if you can tell us in French [Music] right now well you're saying that modeling modeling and analysis will be coming shortly what is important what are you following right now to be able to give us this information this analysis in the future also I'd like to know about your ability for projections in Ontario you live there what are you doing right now to increase capacity there yeah doctor news gonna answer dr.
Nuvo a bone doctor knew will answer your question go ahead thank you very much for your question of course dr.
teller myself and are also provincial and territorial counterparts continue to work very closely we have experts who are working on modernization and modeling and of course dr.
Tam has said that every province has their own experts that are doing their own projections and working closely together projections there are two aspects to this first the quality of the data if we don't have good quality data projections and what we're going to do in terms of results won't be reliable that's the first point if we do modelling it always depends we're doing right now in terms of physical distancing as Canadians we're doing right now we'll also have an impact in terms of what we can expect in a few weeks so it's hard to give you figures because it depends on these two suspects the quality of the data as I said we're working closely together we know that the provinces and territories are continued to work hard to give us the best possible data and the other aspect is that what we're doing now is very important it's critical because everyone all Canadians continue to practice proper physical distancing this can have an impact and also the outcome of the modeling and in terms of Ontario well answer in terms of Ontario enhancing their capacity testing and don't determine myself and our counterparts continue to work very hard to health to help Ontario's health authorities to enhance their capacity to test Ontario nests Thank You mr.
Fang I'd like to ask you in the meetings and discussions you've had with your partners abroad you're talking about purchasing protective equipment is that there's some people who are buying this equipment and is not getting to the proper destination is this the case we also ensure the economic and health security of people since the beginning we've said that we have to ensure the flow of people and goods across our border and we also we have to look at the supply chains notably in North America we know that these provisions are essential and that's why we've reached an agreement with the u.
s.
to close the border we needed coordination we had to low truckers true spoken to countries we've even talked about during the second world war we have to ensure that essential services continues in terms of researchers or technicians for equipment obviously supply chains various initiatives I think the Minister was explaining that this is we're facing a common enemy this pandemic worldwide so it's individual away from this federal briefing today where the focus was largely on personal protective equipment Health Minister reporting that tens of millions and millions of masks have come into the country over the past number of days and they will now be shipped out to provinces as needed and so let us turn now to Quebec which is dealing with the highest number of cases in this country for their daily 3 phenom rosemary Barton signing off now my colleague Andrew Nichols will pick up them here and I'm very proud of Quebecers Quebecers impresses but it remains that there are people through that right now who are not respecting there are people who are gathering groups of people less than two meters away there are businesses that do not offer essential services or products that that continue functioning at some point we have to put all the chances on our side to reduce the spread of the virus so today today I have sent and I am sending a message to the police officers of these orchids of Quebec and as well as the police cores of the greater cities such as the spbm to be less tolerant I think that right now we can no longer accept that there are people where vast majority are making great efforts and that these efforts by the actions of a few who don't take it seriously police officers will be handing out more funds and I repeat they vary between a thousand and six thousand dollars per person so I think that that is what the people who are not respecting the guidelines should have so I'm asking the mayors of the greater cities as well to make sure that the police officers have those guidelines respected this is serious there are lives being endangered and if we can continue seeing gatherings and companies that are still open when they're not essential there will be lives there will be dust so it's very serious a similar set by those deaths we don't know it could be your grandmother it could be your brother so please let's show a bit more solidarity more than ever before let's be less tolerant there's already been denunciations I think there's been there I think there were 7000 yesterday to the police officers well the people who see that the guidelines are not being respected I think that's where we're at right now now the numbers of the day unfortunately we have three new deaths so we are now at 36 and I offer my sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of those three new victims we now have 518 cases an increase of 907 365 people being hospitalized that is an increase of 58 and we now have 96 people in intensive care an increase of 14 as you see the number of cases is increasing but if we compare ourselves if we look at the death rates because that is at the end of the day one of the things that is important you know limiting to deaths of course that one death is one to many but when we look in percentage of the population we have fewer deaths much fewer deaths in Quebec in the United States or any country in Europe so it has to stay that way but in order for it to stay that way everybody has to follow the guidelines also what I wish to tell you is that our health network is ready I was telling you yesterday we have that's a lot of beds unlike other states in the world also what is important and we made a full exercise assist you know the ventilators that we keep talking about we have enough in what the predictions are as far as the peak is concerned and there's not a lot of people in the world who can say that that we have enough ventilators so that is a huge advantage now as far as the individual protective equipment is concerned the masks the gloves the gowns we received a few orders it's true that it's arriving bit by bit we're still at about week's worth of inventory and it is continued arriving in the next few days it's possible that establishments say I don't have enough for seven days what we're trying to do is every day it happens that we take equipment that are in one establishment that has more than seven days worth and to send it in another establishment that has fewer than seven days worth so let's be prudent I'm not saying that every stablishment right now has seven days worth but in total in Quebec we have enough for seven days news and it's true that in certain countries things are you know they're playing rough we're not going to name them but we are also playing along with the rules of the games which means that sometimes we have to have cash we have to have police officers we have to have people following the entire transportation but don't worry we are doing everything that can be done so that the order is that we are ordering make it to our hospitals here in Quebec my daily thanks all the healthcare staff and perhaps we haven't said it often but I also want to wish oh I also want to say a word about the stuff that is working with doctor arruda at Public Health we have hundreds of scientists and I think that this is a great advantage that we have in Quebec we have scientists who every day emit recommendations to us and I wish to really thank them because they work night and day and of course there's the staff that works with a sense of duty and with humanity with the ill and I wish to thank them but I think that we need more than just thanking people we also need concrete actions and this afternoon the president of the board fist on TV and then yet the Minister of Health are going to be announcing an improvement to the wages we're talking a total and amount that is going to be pretty significant 297 million dollars that is going to improve the wages of those who are in direct contact with people who are ill and as well because I think that is where there was the most work to be done the attendance in private residences and homes it's been talked about a lot they have a very low salary who will be increasing it but four by four dollars an hour it's important that the workers of those homes in the private sector be paid and I think that when we look at all of these improvements and these increases I've never seen a group that deserves an increase in wages as much as these people so that will be announced this afternoon with more details and I will end with my three priorities more than ever don't go out unless it is absolutely necessary don't go out I don't want us to empty the grocery stores but if you can go less often to do the groceries that's a good idea and when you do go out even when you go to the groceries even when you go for a walk always keep two meters and don't gather up in parks and when you come back your wash your hands correctly with soap that if everybody and I repeat absolutely everybody if everybody respects the guidelines we will save hundreds of lives in Quebec and let's look at the statistics such as they are I mean I'm proud to see that in Quebec we have fewer deaths per million people then in Europe than in the United States and that's how we want to keep it thank you everyone a few words in English number shows us an import an increase of cases but our help network is ready to face it the most important thing is to follow the public health directives directives if someone still thought it wasn't serious it's time to wake up non-essential businesses must close and gatherings must stop if they don't police will distribute fines and force people into isolation it's a question of light or death life or death so everybody must continue to follow our three priorities don't go out unless it's necessary if you do go out keep your distances and when you come back on wash your hands it's quite simple if everybody follow those rules we'll save lives and I'll thank you all Maximus Ramirez tonight now Paul Thank You mr.
premier now for the question period what is the next step if people continue gathering up if certain stores continue opening prison the Army what's the next step well we have all the powers via Public Health and.