Province ramping up testing to as many as 14,000 a day
Goal of program is to get clearer picture of transmission of virus, Arruda says
Quebec is ramping up its COVID -19 testing to be able to collect samples from as many as 14,000 people a day even as the province allows some stores outside of Montreal to reopen on Monday.
The goal of the testing program is to get a clearer picture of the transmission of the pandemic coronavirus not only in hospitals and nursing homes, but in the community as well, Quebec’s chief public health officer said at a news conference on Friday.
“We’re testing to find positive cases, identify their contacts, follow up on the chain of transmission, and we will isolate those affected to avoid the spread of the virus,” Dr. Horacio Arruda said.
To date, Arruda says Quebec has been carrying out 6,000 tests a day, although the government’s own figures from the last two weeks show a range of 3,000 to 5,000. Last week, Arruda said Quebec would ultimately have the capacity to perform up to 30,000 tests a day.
Public health authorities will also be carrying out a more thorough investigation of outbreaks in Montreal North, the city’s new COVID-19 hot spot. Arruda added that some of the information gleaned will probably include the socio-economic and racial characteristics of the people of Montreal North, with the co-operation of community leaders. About 13 per cent of Montreal North’s residents were born in Haiti.
Arruda unveiled details of the testing program as Quebec crossed the 2,000 threshold in the number of COVID -19 deaths. Quebec’s mortality total stands at 2,022, almost 50 per cent more than the rest of Canada combined: 1,364.
Premier François Legault, who did not attend Friday’s briefing, has said Quebec counts its deaths differently than other provinces and includes fatalities where COVID-19 is presumed to be the cause.
Meanwhile, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Quebec reached 28,648, up by 1,110. Of that number, 1,716 people were being treated for the respiratory illness in hospital.
In Montreal, the number of new cases of COVID-19 surged by 655 — the highest single day increase — to 13,979. The city’s public health department released its latest neighbourhood breakdown that showed Montreal North remains the pandemic’s hot spot in the metropolis, with 1,316 cases.
For the first time, authorities included COVID-19 deaths by neighbourhood. Those areas with more than 100 deaths also happen to have pockets of poverty and they include Ahuntsic—cartierville (143), Côte-des-neiges—notre-dame-deGrâce (124), Mercier-hochelaga-maisonneuve (111) and Sud-ouest (108).
Starting on Monday, people who believe they have the symptoms associated with COVID -19 — such as a fever, dry cough and shortness of breath — will be able to phone 1-877-644-4545 to book an appointment for a test. They will be directed to a designated screening clinic or an evaluation centre within 24 hours.
“We are adopting a massive diagnostic strategy that will allow us to have a better measure of the community transmission,” Arruda explained. “We have the capacity to increase the quantity of tests performed daily, and we intend to use it wisely, striving to detect cases as quickly as possible, especially during possible outbreaks that may occur in the various environments.”
Logistically, authorities expect to ramp up the number of daily tests to 14,000 by next Friday. Arruda acknowledged that increased testing will lead to more cases being reported, but he stressed that this won’t necessarily mean the situation is growing worse.
The testing will accompany Quebec’s controversial strategy of reopening businesses and schools in a staggered manner in Montreal and outside the city. Retail stores with exterior entrances will be allowed to reopen in Montreal on May 11 and elementary schools on May 19.
Legault’s strategy has come under sharp criticism for being hasty and has drawn comparisons with Ontario, which has set no dates for reopening businesses and schools. In fact, Premier Doug Ford has said schools will stay closed until at least May 31.
Ontario has also set the condition of confirming a reduction in new COVID-19 cases for two to four weeks before deciding to ease confinement measures. In contrast, Quebec is ramping up testing even as it reopens parts of the economy.
Still, Arruda and Legault have warned that should authorities observe more outbreaks and a higher-than-expected community transmission, they won’t hesitate to postpone the reopening dates.
Stung by criticism that Quebec has no real plan to justify easing confinement measures, especially given that the province is reporting the highest COVID -19 numbers in the country, Arruda pointed out that the government is following the guidelines of the World Health Organization.
Those guidelines specify that a jurisdiction must have the capacity to detect, test and isolate cases. On that score, Quebec would appear to be meeting the WHO guidelines. The WHO’S first guideline is that the pandemic must be under control in a given jurisdiction.
On Thursday, Legault acknowledged that Montreal’s outbreaks at the Lakeshore General, Douglas Mental Health University Institute and Maisonneuve-rosemont hospitals were “critical,” suggesting a situation that was at risk of spiralling out of control. At the same time, new cases have been surging in Montreal North.
The WHO also requires that the risks must be minimized for people in vulnerable settings like long-term care centres. However, the public health department disclosed on Friday that there are 129 outbreaks in nursing homes and seniors’ residences in Montreal.
On Friday, researchers at the Université de Montréal released a study estimating that the real number of COVID-19 infections in Quebec was 256,130 as of April 22. Arruda agreed with the figure, but said the number would have been much higher had the government not closed schools and businesses while imposing a ban on gatherings.
The government’s messaging that it has the pandemic under control was challenged on Friday following a report by Radio-canada that two health authorities in Montreal were allowing infected employees to continue working.
A health ministry spokesperson told the Montreal Gazette by email that this would be done only as a last resort “in the event that a breach in service is unavoidable.”
We’re testing to find positive cases, identify their contacts, follow up on the chain of transmission, and we will isolate those affected to avoid the spread of the virus.