generalspeaking

Quebec, Canada's Novel Coronavirus Hot-Spot

"All the travel happened before the World Health Organization ever declared the pandemic and the travel restrictions came in."
"For us, the damage was already done. Travellers going back to school or work on the 9th [of March] did so unknowingly."
"What you see happening in Montreal now is partly due to that."
Dr.Nathalie Auger, epidemiologist, School of Public Health, University of Montreal

"Today, I am going to allow myself to be more direct."
"Montreal is the epicentre of the pandemic [in Canada]. Understand that we are now in the upward curve of the pandemic."
"[Nonetheless] a minority [of Montrealers and Quebecers are ignoring orders to keep a distance of two metres, and avoiding gatherings of over five people in public."
Dr.Mylene Drouin, regional director, public health, Montreal

Two women ignore social distancing as they walk at Lafontaine park in Montreal on April 1, 2020. Pierre Obendrauf/Postmedia

"Today, I sent a message to police officers for the Surete du Quebec and municipal police services to be less tolerant."
"I don't think we can accept that a vast majority of people are making an effort to fight the virus, and those efforts are annihilated by a few others who aren't taking it seriously."
"Police will hand out more fines."
Quebec Premier Francois Legault

"For the past 14 days, we have been focused on spreading awareness.When we saw groups that didn't respect public health orders, we went and warned them to break it up. Now, if a group is caught red-handed, we're going to write them up."
"Our police officers have told us that people that they warn on one day have to be warned again the next day. So at one point, we have to act."
"There is no one who can say they don't know about public health rules any more."
Inspector Andre Durocher, Montreal Police Force (SPVM)

Montreal police stand near George-Etienne Cartier monument to keep watch for social distancing on April 2, 2020. Pierre Obendrauf/Postmedia

Two disparate issues appear to be at play in having set Quebec and the City of Montreal apart from the rest of Canada to make it action central for novel coronavirus transmission. First, March break in Quebec took place the first week of the month, whereas elsewhere in Canada March break came in on the second or third week of the month. At that time, COVID-19 had not yet wrought its havoc in Canada. It was, in fact, British Columbia where the first incident of the coronavirus was identified.

Yet, given that Quebecers had fanned out to take holiday time at the beginning of March, and then returned, unknowingly bringing back with them infections that were then transmitted internally before the alarm was raised, made for an extremely high infectious rate, still rising ominously, to make the province the highest-infection hot-spot in the country. So much so that Quebec has closed its borders to all external traffic.

The high identified rate of infection in comparison to that of Ontario which has the second highest number of cases in the country can also be attributed to Quebec's rapid response where it has initiated COVID-19 testing at a pace unseen elsewhere in the country. Presumptive cases are included in the province's daily tally as well. Still, the fact is community transmission has been identified as a driving force spurring the rapid spread of the virus.

And nowhere is the rise in cases more notable than in the Hasidic Jewish community, where internal action to dramatically reduce the numbers attending synagogue came too late, and finally police were dispatched to persuade the community to put an end altogether for the time being to religious events drawing large numbers of worshippers. Another Hasidic group in Boisbriand placed their community into self-quarantine to slow the spread of the virus.

As well, a wedding in Westmount that took place on March 12 saw hundreds of people attending, despite the growing threat of virus transmission. Another, smaller wedding took place in Cote St-Luc where guests from New York City attended, bringing with them the virus that would later develop to the point where at present, New York has become the epicentre of novel corinavirus transmission in the United States, with an alarming death toll.

Even with all these occurrences and public concerns, Quebec media reported over the last few weeks a plethora of public gatherings taking place, from events occurring in the city's parks to privately-arranged celebratory groups, acting as though there was no threat of virus transmission. Now, because people appear to be incapable of taking warnings to disperse and to dispense with gatherings of any type, much less maintaining a safe social distance, fines are being imposed on those continuing to flout common-sense rules.

For individuals disregarding physical distancing orders, fines between $1,000 and $6,000 will be levied -- and any business conducting 'non-essential' services can be fined between $3,000 to $5,000, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. Throughout the province, police forces have been authorized  to act on the over 7,000 tips that they receive, of people ignoring public health orders.

Valerie Plante, Montreal's mayor, reiterated a threat she has committed to, that the city's parks will be shut down to residents should people continue to ignore social distancing requirements. To that end, the city police force is set to increase its patrols in the city parks. Quebec doesn't find itself in an enviable position, to be hosting fully one-quarter of all COVID-19 cases in the country.