COVID-19/coronavirus update: March 20, 2020

As both Italy and the United States harness the manufacturing power of their defence sectors to address shortages of medical equipment desperately needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled Thursday he’d be prepared to do the same thing as the federal government ramps up its response.

“We are considering any measures necessary to ensure Canadians and our health care systems have the supports they need,” the prime minister said at his now-daily media briefing outside of Rideau Cottage, where he remains in self-isolation after being exposed to the virus.

“We have already been engaged with industry on production and ramping up capacity to build and create more equipment. We will, of course, look at military procurement as a solution as well. There’s a range of things we can do and we will do what is necessary.”