Canada still needs to work on U.S. to ensure flow of medical supplies - Trudeau

FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa, Canada March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Blair Gable

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada still has more work to do to persuade Washington to ensure medical supplies flow freely, even though U.S. officials have allowed the export of 500,000 masks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.

Trudeau told a briefing that the masks - ordered by the province of Ontario to help fight the coronavirus - should arrive on Wednesday. Canadian officials pressed their U.S. counterparts over the weekend and on Monday after Ontario complained the shipment had been blocked.