We can’t kid ourselves anymore. We can’t obfuscate the truth and pretend it’s just a…blip. What is happening now with the coronavirus pandemic is unlike anything we’ve experienced since World War 2.
I know one of the first rules as a journalist is to never invoke the first person, unless you’re, maybe, Edward R. Murrow. While I’ve been on the frontlines and in newsrooms for 30-plus years, as a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Cold War, reporting on the Balkans War and 9/11, I have never experienced anything remotely like COVID-19.
But I believe, as I’m sure most Canadians do, along with all other responsible, caring citizens of the world, that we are all ready to step up to the plate and make a difference. Who can inspire us? Where is our Churchill now? Can we make this time in history be “our finest hour?”
As an example, hospitals across Canada are desperately scrambling to find new protective gear for brave healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak. But now, some are getting fresh shipments from an unlikely source – licensed cannabis producers.
And as Canadian hospitals are rushing to source protective gear for healthcare workers fighting to contain the coronavirus outbreak, some licensed cannabis producers are helping out by donating excess supplies. Several major cannabis producers such as
Canopy Growth (
T.WEED) and
HEXO Corp. (T.HEXO) have provided hospitals with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) such as face masks, gloves, and bodysuits.
Some cannabis producers have used the same face masks and other PPE gear that hospital workers wear after entering plant growing rooms to help prevent contamination. Other producers say they are in the process of donating their PPE supplies to medical facilities to help with the shortage. Here in lies the rub.
For example, Canopy spokesperson Jordan Sinclair said his company will be donating thousands of gloves, Tyvek suits, and masks sourced from two massive greenhouses in British Columbia that it shut down earlier this month. “We committed our personal protective equipment from our recently shuttered B.C. sites to the frontline medical staff at a local health unit in Victoria,” Sinclair went on to say.
Similarly, HEXO said it will be donating 150 N95 facemasks to paramedic services in the Outaouais region in Quebec to "help fill their critical need", according to a company spokesperson.
In a who’s-who of the industry’s heavy hitters, the big LPs have reported that they’re in the process of donating their PPE supplies to medical facilities to help with the shortage.
Spokespeople from
Village Farms International Inc. (
T.VFF),
Aphria Inc. (
T.APHA),
TerrAscend Corp. (
C.TER), and
CannTrust Holdings Inc. (
T.TRST) have said they are evaluating how much PPE gear they will be able to donate to front-line hospital staff, but will be acting soon.
WeedMD Inc. (
V.WMD) spokesperson Marianella Dela Barrera said the company is switching to alternative face masks and plans to donate its current supply of
N95 masks to hospitals in the southwest Ontario region.
Unfortunately, some cannabis producers, including
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (
T.ACB),
Organigram Holdings Inc. (
T.OGI), and
Tilray Inc. (
TLRY) have reported their stocks of PPE’s are already at critical levels and thus they’re unable to part with any spare extra COVID-19-realeted gear.
Organigram spokesperson Ray Gracewood said that the company has provided 500 litres of ethanol to a local New Brunswick manufacturer to be converted into hand sanitizer.
According to Chrissy Roebuck, a spokesperson for Tilray:
"We’re operating using only business-critical staff and gear right now. We are using what is needed and no more, to deliver the product safely to the consumers and patients that rely on us."
Everyone is in this together. Keep calm. Carry on.