Public health detailed its contingency plan for breakdowns in services to the population on Wednesday afternoon. This plan applies to the health network as announced Tuesday by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, but not only.
Quebec has not given exhaustive lists of these other sectors, preferring to leave it to managers to judge whether the service they offer is essential according to the context and the region, but specifies that the directive applies, among other things, to corps police, firefighters and public transport services.
It is not, however, an unconditional entry
for workers positive for the virus, said on several occasions the strategic medical adviser of public health, Dr. Richard Massé, during an information session Wednesday afternoon.
Dr Massé says that all workers who show symptoms of COVID-19, test positive or not, must continue to be placed in isolation.
The new measures presented therefore mainly concern asymptomatic people.
Essential worker recall order
- Vaccinated employee who has been in contact with an infected person and placed in administrative segregation for five days;
- Employee, vaccinated or not, who has been in contact with an infected person and placed in isolation for at least five days;
- Vaccinated employee who has been in contact with an infected person and placed in administrative segregation for three days;
- Employee who contracted COVID-19, who is asymptomatic and who spent five days in isolation;
- Employee showing symptoms of COVID-19. The manager must, however, obtain the authorization of the public health department in his region.
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As of Wednesday, the employees of the health network who have received their two doses of vaccine and who have had occasional contact with an infected person, at work or outside, will no longer be withdrawn from their position in a preventive manner. However, everyone should watch for symptoms within two weeks of contact and get tested as soon as possible.
Only those living with a symptomatic loved one will be placed in isolation, for a period of seven days. This isolation could however be broken if a break in service is to be expected in the employee’s work sector.
If this measure does not prove to be sufficient, Quebec will authorize managers to call back to work those who have been diagnosed positive for the virus, regardless of their vaccination status.
However, the employee will need to be free from symptoms of COVID-19 and have spent at least five days in isolation.
« It is very difficult to measure the impact of the measure [du retour des travailleurs positifs] when we do not know to what extent it will be used. »
However, there is no question of forcing positive essential workers back to work. Quebec intends to respect the collective agreements of the various sectors and trades.
However, Richard Massé calls on the moral contract
, especially between caregivers and patients. If it’s a matter of life and death, we hope people will answer [à l’appel]
, he said.
A disaster scenario also provides for the return to work of symptomatic workers. The employer who would resort to this measure should however obtain the green light from the public health in occupational health of his region.
Nearly avoided service breakdowns among firefighters in Montreal
Other essential workers than those in the health sector may also be released from their administrative segregation, public health said on Wednesday.
This possibility has become a reality for certain firefighters in the City of Montreal, who were called in to assist for the evenings of December 24 and 25.
This was confirmed to Radio-Canada by the president of the Montreal Firefighters Association, Chris Ross.
The managers of some barracks were not able to fill certain shifts for these festive evenings, even if the mandatory overtime has been in effect since January 18 for the firefighters of the metropolis. They therefore had to call in employees placed in administrative segregation.
« There is a risk, to be sure, but the risk of not having firefighters in uniform is even greater. »
This decision was made on the basis of an interim regional opinion from the public health of Montreal, released a few days before the directives from Quebec.
It was not possible to know how many firefighters were requisitioned, but Mr Ross assures that each of them was tested at a private clinic before entering work and that he was handed over in segregation after the shift is over.
That was it, or there were no firefighters in the trucks
, said Chris Ross, who calls the measure exceptional case
.
However, he warns public health against the possibility of recalling to work firefighters who are indeed positive for COVID-19.
It’s impossible, he said. We are so close in the barracks, we sleep together … In the trucks, too, we cannot have any distance.
COVID-19] à la caserne, c'est l'équivalent de donner le virus à tout le monde","text":"Si vous renvoyez quelqu'un [de positif à la COVID-19] à la caserne, c'est l'équivalent de donner le virus à tout le monde"}}">If you fire someone [de positif à la COVID-19] at the barracks, it’s the equivalent of giving the virus to everyone
, he hammers.
According to him, about 300 Montreal firefighters are currently in administrative segregation and nearly 100 of them have tested positive for COVID-19.
The City employs approximately 2,400 people in its fire protection department.
Holes in the workforce … but don’t panic
Among the firefighters of Longueuil, on the South Shore, the situation is also deteriorating.
According to data obtained by Radio-Canada, more than 30 people are currently in isolation or positive for COVID-19.
% of employees are not available “,” text “:” At the moment, if we count COVID absences, illnesses and vacations, 50% of employees are not available “}}”>At the moment, if we count COVID absences, illnesses and vacations, 50% of employees are not available
, can we read in an internal note.
The spokesperson for the Fire Department of the agglomeration of Longueuil, Stéfan Di Fruscia, confirms that nearly half of the staff is missing, but the situation is not alarming according to him.
All quarters are full, he says. When permanent employees do not want to work overtime, they are offered to temporary workers.
On the side of the City of Laval, we also ensure that the situation is under control
.
The minimum number of employees required for each shift is respected at all times
, specifies the public affairs advisor Myriam Legault by email.
Laval nevertheless reports 100 police officers and 44 firefighters in administrative isolation or positive for the virus.
At the Sûreté du Québec, there are 267 positive diagnoses among the workforce, but, by email, we are assured that the operational capacity of the units or posts concerned is not affected by these cases
.
Same story with the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), which reports 263 employees absent due to COVID-19. At management, we ensure that services are maintained despite everything.
The Longueuil transport network (RTL), however, had to reduce the frequency of certain passages, since some 40 workers are missing.
With information from Thomas Gerbet
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