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CALGARY — While fears mounted that Canadian medical personnel could encounter a shortage of masks, gloves and gowns in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian federal and provincial governments have spent a month securing new supply chains for critical protective and medical equipment.

On Saturday, the first of soon-to-be many flights from Shanghai arrived in Hamilton, Ont., on a Cargojet Inc. plane carrying over 80,000 pounds of medical personal protective equipment (PPE).

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Mississauga-based Cargojet had not previously flown to China, but will make another medical supply run for the federal government, two for the Alberta government and two for the British Columbia government as new supply chains for medical equipment are established during the pandemic.

“We could be looking at anywhere from an average of four to five flights a week in and out of China for the next three to four weeks,” said Ajay Virmani, president and CEO of Cargojet, who added that governments and companies across Canada have worked incessantly over the last month to establish new supply routes for Canadian medical supplies.