Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said that he is deeply concerned about reports that medical equipment destined for Canada was diverted to the United States

TORONTO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2020) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said that he is deeply concerned about reports that medical equipment destined for Canada was diverted to the United States.

Earlier in the day, a Montreal-based businessman told Le Journal de Montreal that a shipment of 10,000 N95 masks that he had order from China was rerouted by DHL to Ohio after arriving in Quebec.

"I was very, very concerned when I read the report about medical equipment being diverted," Trudeau said in a press briefing. "We need to make sure that equipment that is destined for Canada, gets to, and stays in Canada."

The prime minister said he and his cabinet are working with US counterparts to address this specific issue.

Officials from the province of Quebec, which remains the hardest hit in the country with 4,611 confirmed cases, have repeatedly raised the issue of dwindling personal protective equipment for frontline health care workers.

On Thursday, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam revealed that the number of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Canada increased to 10,466, while the death toll increased to 111.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 965,000 people have been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide, and over 48,500 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.