Alberta sending 25 ventilators to Quebec to assist in coronavirus relief

Apr 22 2020, 11:14 pm

Alberta is helping out Canada’s hardest-hit province during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Jason Kenney announced that Alberta is sending 25 ventilators to Quebec in the hopes of saving some lives threatened by coronavirus.

Kenney noted that Alberta currently has many more ventilators than it expects to need, even at the province’s peak of infections.

“Our rates of infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ventilator use are […] far below what we have modelled,” said Kenney on Wednesday.

“Our stockpile of medical equipment, including ventilators, remains far larger than both our current and anticipated needs, even based on the elevated model that we released two weeks ago.”

In comparison, Quebec reported a total of 21,000 cases and 1,134 deaths on April 22, resulting in over 1,300 in hospital and 200 in intensive care — over 10 times the numbers seen in Alberta.

Kenney also noted that Alberta currently has around 600 ventilators but only needs about 100 on any given day during the pandemic.

That’s not including the equipment that the province is working on procuring and developing in the coming days and weeks.

“We project that we will have a margin of several hundred ventilators even at the peak of the pandemic in Alberta,” Kenney said.

“Given that abundance of supply, we cannot stand by indifferently as COVID threatens the lives of our fellow Canadians in other areas, including Quebec. So in the spirit of Canadian compassion, Alberta is providing 25 ventilators to the Province of Quebec to help them fight against the pandemic and to save the lives of Canadians.”

The ventilators are currently being shipped in custom-built crates, and will be distributed by health authorities once they arrive.

It is hoped that, as Quebec appears to be around three months ahead of Alberta’s coronavirus curve, they can be used to save lives before being sent back to Alberta in time for its own peak to hit.

“Those ventilators are being sent to Quebec along with our hopes and prayers for our fellow Canadians to get through this with all of us together.”

Chandler WalterChandler Walter

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