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Mar 11, 2020 9:07 PM -

Patty Hajdu: one billion dollar package aimed at finding the balance between keeping the country ready, and also functioning

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Minister of Health Patty Hajdu makes her way through the Foyer of the House of Commons to speak with the media Thursday January 30, 2020 in Ottawa. Critics of the federal health minister say her advice to stockpile food and medicine for a possible coronavirus outbreak may be overblown or not specific enough. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Health Minister Patty Hajdu says the Liberals one billion dollar package to mitigate impacts of the spread of COVID-19 is aimed at finding the balance between keeping the country ready, and also functioning.

She says a decision to make it easier for people forced to stay home due to the illness to collect unemployment insurance was rolled out for that reason.

The money announced by the Liberals will also be spent on purchasing medical supplies for front line workers, research towards a vaccine for the virus and bolstering provincial and territorial health care responses.

The Liberals' package came as the World Health Organization declared the spread of the virus a pandemic, which Hajdu suggested was not unexpected.

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