MONTREAL -- Approximately 125 members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have training in the health field will lend a hand in Quebec’s hard-hit long-term care facilities (CSHLDs), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed.
Canada’s Public Security Minister Bill Blair received a “request for official assistance” from the Quebec government Wednesday evening for the help.
Trudeau said Armed Forces will be in the field as of Friday afternoon to assess the situation and determine what approach to take.
“We were asking Justin Trudeau for a few days if he’s got some members of the Forces having the qualifications to help, especially nurses. We only got the final answer this morning, that there are 125 people available to do that. As soon as we got this information, we confirmed that we want them,” said Premier Francois Legault at his daily COVID-19 update.
Quebec’s seniors’ residences have been rocked by the COVID-19 outbreak, with nearly half of the 630 deaths are tied to long-term care homes for th elderly.
Forty Canadian Rangers are already in northern Quebec; last week, they set up heated tents for COVID-19 screening and conduct other tasks in their local communities due to the pandemic.
