ROM helps with the fight against COVID-19

The ROM may be closed to visitors, but that didn’t stop museum staff from doing their part to help frontline and medical workers in this time of crisis.

Several departments at the ROM banded together last week to answer a national call for donations of personal protective equipment (PPE), contributing 141 boxes of nitrile gloves, 75 N95 face masks, 100 surgical masks, as well as safety glasses, face shields, Isopropyl alcohol bottles, and hand sanitizer.

As the first line of defence for doctors and nurses, PPE is critical in assessing and treating patients, and the risk of running out of these supplies is one of the biggest issues currently facing Canada and the rest of the world.

While PPE is integral to the work being done by Museum staff on a daily basis—in the careful handling of objects and specimens, as well as research and conservation, where contamination, irritation or exposure are a risk—the ROM joined museums in Toronto and across North America in the effort to meet the critical demand for these important resources.

Responding to an appeal made by local hospitals asking anyone and everyone to donate unopened boxes of supplies, ROM staff generously volunteered to go into the offices to gather the needed equipment.

The ROM’s Richard M. Ivey Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology, Dr. Jean Bernard Caron, delivered the supplies last Friday afternoon to Michael Garron Hospital, a ROMCAN partner and one of Toronto’s largest medical centres, where the drive was centralized.

While the ROM is temporarily closed to the public, we invite you to explore the museum online and join us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as we share stories on our incredible collections.