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Prime Minister’s remarks on incoming supplies and coordinated efforts to fight COVID-19

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Hello, everyone.

It is clear that the last few weeks have been very difficult for a lot of people.

You’re wondering how you’re going to be able to work from home or how you’re going to pay your bills after losing your job.

It can be hard to keep your morale up.

It’s normal to be frustrated.

But if you’re going through a particularly dark time, please ask for help.

There are people who can help you.

And if you think a friend or a family member needs help, give them a call.

Tell them you’re there for them.

We are going through a difficult time, but we’re going through it together, and help is on the way.

This evening, I’ll be chairing a First Ministers’ Meeting with the premiers.

We’re going to talk about how to continue working together to keep people safe and supported.

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 health care 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 in addition to the 10 million 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 COVID-19.

Since then, we’ve spoken to almost 3,000 companies, helping us secure millions of pieces of vital equipment.

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 COVID-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.

In our conversation tonight, the premiers and I will also discuss our continued coordination and sharing of data and modelling.

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.ca/coronavirus for the latest information about cases, growth, and spread.

But I know a lot of people are still wondering when this’ll get better, or how much worse it might become.

You want to see the numbers and the predictions.

You wake up in the morning and look online for the latest, most 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 behaviour.

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 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 neighbours.

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.

To protect your job, your business or your salary, we have launched a three-part economic plan that will help you until things get better.

Thanks to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, we are helping your employer to keep you on board.

With new guaranteed loans for businesses of all sizes, we are helping business owners access credit to get through this difficult time.  

And with the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, we are going to help you until things settle down, if you have lost your job or your income.

I want you to 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 the Second World War.

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 help.

The meaning of serving your country changes from one generation to the next.

Your grandfather may have served his country by fighting in a war overseas.

Your mother may have fought for more equality.

Now, it’s your turn.

It’s your turn to contribute to the effort.

You can serve your country by staying home and following the rules.

I know it sounds simple, but it’s the only way to get through this.

Everyone has to do their part.

Everyone has to sacrifice their routine now so life can get back to normal one day.

I know that we can and will do it, together.

Thank you.