The Canadian military will mobilize up to 24,000 full-time and part-time members to respond to calls from provinces and northern Indigenous communities for help with pandemic measures, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Monday. While the Canadian military has transport capacity to move supplies around, it does not have an oversupply of medical equipment and personal protective equipment. Recently, the Italian military employed specialists to help the country increase production of medically-necessary ventilators that help the most critically-ill patients breathe. The Department of National Defence has been in conversation with some northern communities about their pandemic needs, Sajjan said. Each request for military help will be evaluated based on need, not geography, the minister added.

Source: CBC News March 30, 2020 17:54 UTC