With COVID-19 outbreak numbers on the rise in Alberta acute care settings, Alberta Health Services now has a directive in place to allow for masking requirements in hospitals.

Increasingly in recent days, governors across the U.S. have described in unbelievable terms the dog-eat-dog global marketplace they have had to navigate for the protective gear doctors, nurses and other front-line medical workers need amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Officials would only confirm the expiration of those masks but did not reveal how many are left in the stockpile that could potentially be deployed.