Sudbury doctor makes online plea for N95 masks – by Sarah MacMillan (CBC News Sudbury – March 21, 2020)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Mining company Vale responds, offering to donate 500 masks

Health Sciences North is receiving offers of personal protective equipment, following an online plea from a doctor at the Sudbury hospital.

In a Facebook post Friday evening, Dr. Lacey Pitre said the hospital needs N95 masks, and called on anyone who might have the protective respirator masks — from veterinarians, to construction workers to mining companies — to contact the hospital.

“If you have any N95 masks and you are not using them for direct patient care – reach out to our team at HSN. They will be used”, Pitre wrote in her post, which she called a “request of the utmost importance.”

The post has been shared hundreds of times, and has prompted offers of donations — as well as concerns about the supply of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers in Sudbury, on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials with Health Sciences North declined CBC’s request for an interview, instead referring reporters to a short statement posted on the hospital’s Facebook page late Friday night. The statement said HSN “has received offers of assistance with Personal Protective Equipment” and said staff would evaluate the suitability of all offers.

For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sudbury-covid-19-n95-masks-health-sciences-north-1.5505699