Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, I think it's important to situate ourselves in the global context. We have seen what being unprepared looks like. We have seen the data from Italy, China, South Korea, the United States, and other jurisdictions in Canada. I think we all recognize that, in the Northwest Territories, we are fortunate that we are seeing this pandemic reach us last; however, we also recognize we are one of the most vulnerable jurisdictions.
Over the coming months, I'm sure we will hear the term "flatten the curve" multiple times. This refers to making sure that we can slow the pandemic to allow our healthcare system to respond. However, I would like to think about this more as a wave, Mr. Speaker. It's a wave that can potentially come crashing down on a healthcare system.
We have seen in Italy nurses who have tested positive for COVID-19 treating others. We have seen in the United States. Today, New York closed all its bars, its restaurants, its gymnasiums. It is banning public gatherings, Mr. Speaker. We are seeing the experts project an economic recession similar to 2008.
Nunavut's Baffin Island Mine has told its workers not to attend. It is likely we will see the same with our mines in due course. I think it's important that we all recognize this is not a normal state of affairs. There have been many jokes about the run on toilet paper and people not getting toilet paper, but we're also seeing a global run on medical supplies, including oxygen and ventilators.
Mr. Speaker, I think it's very important to recognize that we, the territorial government, do not have the resources to respond to a pandemic. Ultimately, we must be coordinating daily and working with the federal government to make sure that our healthcare system maintains capacity and builds capacity to address this pandemic.
Once again, I want to assure everyone to follow the advice of our public health officer and our professionals. It is important that we all remember the basic things like practising social distancing, washing your hands. This will take an entire territorial effort to make sure we can make sure that wave does not come crashing down on our healthcare system. I will have questions for the Premier in making sure that we are in connection with our federal government, and that Canada gets this pandemic right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.