COVID-19: deadly fall in eastern Quebec

Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean, Capitale-Nationale, Chaudière-Appalaches and Gaspésie are at the top of the regions where COVID-19 has claimed the most lives this fall and the situation could worsen if lessons are not learned .

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The numbers are clear. The eastern part of the province emerges from a fall swept away by the second wave of COVID-19.

In proportion to the population, the four regions where the most deaths have occurred since 1^is September are all in the east.

“It is exactly in line with what we expected, what we had planned,” recalls Roxane Borgès Da Silva, professor of public health at the University of Montreal. “When we saw the scale that it took in Montreal, we had confined over a long period and contained the virus. In a way, they [ces régions] didn’t know what to expect. ”

“The lessons of spring have not been learned in these regions. They were heard, but we had not experienced what it was ”, adds D^r Réjean Hébert, former Minister of Health, now professor at the University of Montreal.

Community transmission

According to experts, we have to go back to the summer to explain the marked increase in deaths in the fall. Regions spared by the first wave, such as Charlevoix, Saguenay and Gaspésie, have become shelters for fleeing COVID-19. The tourist impetus would have had the effect of sowing what resulted in deaths a few months later.

“One of the hypotheses is that these holiday resorts have been popular with people who have less respected the sanitary rules”, analyzes M^me Borgès Da Silva.

Once the virus arrived in the region, the progression followed only the known trajectory of community transmission.

“If we keep contact with the outside world, there will be outbreaks for sure. And in the residences, it circulates in silence a few days before we realize it, that’s the tragedy ”, recalls Gaston De Serres, epidemiologist at the INSPQ.

“There were these community outbreaks and then health workers were [fait] enter that into care settings and residences ”, specifies D^r Hébert, recalling the dramatic result.

“What shocks me the most about all this is the trivialization of their deaths. […] “Old lives matter”, we haven’t heard it often since the start of the crisis ”, sermons Dr.^r Hébert.

Not finished

And even if the figures for the fall are striking, the experts consulted by Le Journal are issuing a warning. “It’s far from over.”

“I’ve been sounding the alarm for several weeks and saying that we must learn from the past few months,” says Réjean Hébert. We know the mode of transmission, in CHSLDs, it goes through the people who provide care, unfortunately. We must prevent these people from contracting the disease. ”

Become aware of the risk

To do this, we should reflect on the importance of the government’s decision to ban holiday gatherings. Is it really worth it to defy the rules?

“You have to ask yourself individually if it’s worth taking this risk to end up at the funeral home four weeks later. It’s hard, but it’s important that people become aware of the risk, ”insists Roxane Borgès Da Silva.

“It’s a collapse every time”

Nine deaths. This is the tragic toll of a residence in Baie-Saint-Paul, one of the directors of which agreed to bear witness to the tragedy to remind people that no one is immune.

“When it comes in, despite everything we can do, that doesn’t prevent it from leaving,” sighs Philippe Richard, regional director of Groupe Bâtisseurs, owner of the Bâtisseurs residence in Baie-Saint-Paul, but also at Manoir Sully where a major outbreak is underway in Quebec.

“Everyone knows each other. Our employees know families. […] It’s a collapse every time. ”

If he accepts to testify to the pain caused by the nine deaths, it is to make the population aware of the risk. He recalls that community transmission is no less serious because it often ends up reaching residences for the elderly.

“Empty chairs”

Since that day when the virus entered the Résidence des Bâtisseurs, nothing will be the same.

“We are going to have a lot of support work to do for our residents and our employees because at home, there will be empty chairs in the dining room,” sighs the manager.

Christmas reflection

After the tsunami caused by the virus in his residences, Philippe Richard struggles to understand the stubbornness of some to celebrate Christmas as if nothing had happened. He calls on Quebeckers to have a little thought for his nine deceased residents and for all the others.

“They, their relatives will not be able to see them. Going to get together and fool around at a Christmas party without protection or distancing? Think about it all the time because the virus is there. And he doesn’t knock on the door to ask to enter, ”Philippe Richard confides, his voice choked with emotion.

Lessons to be learned for the spared regions

If there is one lesson to be learned from the fall, it is that regions that are still spared will no longer be spared if they let their guard down. The experts are clear on this.

“The regions not yet affected are not immune, far from it,” warns Roxane Borgès Da Silva, specialist in public health, who insists on compliance with health measures.

“We saw the difference in the second wave. We can believe that because of the severity of the first wave, the people of Montreal respected the measures better in the fall and they are less affected today, ”she points out.

Former Minister of Health Réjean Hébert agrees, urging residences for the elderly and CHSLDs to remain vigilant even if the virus circulates less in certain regions.

“The lessons are the same. We must prohibit the movement of personnel, monitor ventilation, better protect employees, even in regions less affected at present, ”he insists about the Outaouais, Abitibi or Côte-Nord, which have been spared the crisis until now.

► Ranking of regions by death in proportion to the population since September 1

1. Saguenay – Lac-St-Jean: 37.44
2. Capitale-Nationale: 35.97
3. Chaudière-Appalaches: 30.33
4. Gaspé – Îles-de-la-Madeleine: 29.89
5. Lanaudière : 21,73
6. Montérégie : 17,00
7. Estrie : 12,46
8. Laval : 11,85
9. Laurentides : 11,61
10. Mauricie and Center-du-Quebec: 10.57
11. Outaouais: 8.31
12. Montréal : 8,13
13. Bas-Saint-Laurent: 7.60
14. North Shore: 1.10

◆ Figures represent the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants *

* Calculation of Journal from data from the INSPQ dated December 3, 2020 and the Institut de la statistique du Québec

► Seniors’ homes most affected by COVID-19 deaths this fall