Ontario has just received an extremely generous donation of crucial personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line healthcare workers helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospitals across the province and the world have been scrambling to secure items such as face masks, medical gowns, face shields, goggles and gloves, which are essential when treating COVID-19 patients but are in drastically short supply these days.

Thankfully, electricity generating company Bruce Power has just stepped up to donate 600,000 pieces of PPE to the province.

Thank you @Bruce_Power! This morning when I was speaking to @NewsBayshore they announced they are donating 60,000 pieces of protective equipment to help us in the fight against COVID-19. This is the incredible #OntarioSpirit https://t.co/uEmxNRJMp0

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) April 1, 2020

Mike Rencheck, the CEO of the Tiverton, Ontario-based conglomerate, shared the news with Premier Doug Ford over local radio today, with Ford calling it "the largest donation we've received so far."

Rencheck added that Bruce will use its "logistics and supply chain to get this equipment to the front lines as soon as possible." The company will be sourcing the products from its own existing stock, as well as from forthcoming purchases.

Great to see @Bruce_Power providing 600,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to support Ontario's fight against #COVID19 #PPE #InThisTogether @BizCouncilofCan https://t.co/vZ3OuecMAX

— Brian Kingston (@bkingston) April 1, 2020

The news comes at a time when some nurses in Ontario have been advised to wear surgical masks "until grossly soiled" due to severely scarce resources.

Many healthcare employees and the facilities they work at have made public pleas for donations from anyone who may have access to any form of PPE, such as estheticians and tattoo studios.

Businesses ranging from hockey equipment company Bauer, to small graphics manufacturing companies, to post-secondary institutions have recently started using their resources and machinery — including 3D printers — to create pieces of the much-needed items for Canadian hospitals.

Bauer is now making visors for medical staff in Canada instead of hockey players https://t.co/k1RMQLnZkO #Canada #Bauer #CanadaLockdown #CoronavirusCanada #COVIDCanada #Coronavirus

— Freshdaily (@freshdaily) March 26, 2020

Countless community groups have also mobilized, organizing PPE drives to help protect healthcare workers and get them the physical protection they need to do their jobs safely.

The provincial and federal governments have also vowed to purchase billions more in the necessary medical paraphernalia as the number of 2019 novel coronavirus cases across the country nears 10,000.