City records largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases
Montreal's public health director is once again urging people to respect the COVID-19 measures in effect and reduce their contacts as the disease spreads at an increasingly “alarming” rate.
Montreal recorded its highest single-day increase in cases Thursday, adding 648 new infections.
The new cases mostly come from school-aged children and seniors over 85 living in long-term care centres and residences, but the spread is increasing across all age groups.
“I know we're all tired, but we need to make an effort,” Dr. Mylène Drouin said at a news conference, urging people to not let their guard down.
Drouin said that in 40 per cent of new cases, people are saying they believe they contracted the virus at home. Contact tracing is then done to establish whether the initial infection came from work or school.
But nearly a quarter of newly infected people are also reporting they don't know where they could have caught the virus, since they were never around a known cluster or outbreak.
It's a trend Drouin said public health authorities are keeping a close eye on for what it could signal in the future.
“This indicator is important because when we're seeing it rising,” Drouin said, “it's because we have lost control of the transmission.”
Overall, Drouin said the city is battling 268 active outbreaks, mainly in schools, daycares and workplaces. She urged any business that can to allow employees to start working from home until after the holidays.
Though most outbreaks are small and being contained, there are a combined 34 larger ones in long-term care centres and private seniors' residences across the city. More than half of those have more than 10 cases.
The “only good news” Drouin said she could deliver was that there hasn't been a sharp increase in cases among 65- to 85-year-olds in the city, but she asked seniors to continue being vigilant.
The positivity rate in Montreal, meaning the percentage of tests that come back positive, is now hovering around seven per cent.
The hardest-hit neighbourhoods are still Parc-extension, Ahuntsic- Cartierville, Côtedes-neiges, Montreal North, StLéonard and Rivière-des-prairies. In those areas, the positivity rate is ranging between nine and 15 per cent.
Drouin called on people to reduce their contacts as much as possible, including by cutting down on the number of trips to the grocery store each week.
With the number of cases increasing as rapidly as it is, she said everyone should act as though they believe anyone around them is infected.
She also said she was disappointed that public health has heard some businesses have been planning holiday parties in coming weeks.
“It is not the time to have happy hours or buffets,” Drouin said.
The increase in cases is beginning to put pressure on the city's health-care network as well. As of Thursday, 334 health employees had tested positive and more than 450 are in voluntary isolation or awaiting test results.
That's 100 more employees missing from the sector compared to last week.
“You can imagine the impact it has on our network,” Sonia Bélanger, head of the CIUSSS du Centre- Sud-de-l'île-de-montréal, said Thursday.
Bélanger said hospitals across the city have started reorganizing to ensure there are enough beds reserved for COVID-19 patients to meet the increase seen in recent weeks.
The goal is to have 500 beds available by next week and 1,000 ready by the holidays.
There are currently 279 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Montreal, but authorities expect the number to keep rising given how the disease is spreading in the city.
“It's an increase that's accelerating every day,” Bélanger said of the number of hospitalizations.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have now been 55,908 cases in Montreal and 3,688 deaths.
Overall, Quebec reported 1,842 new cases and 33 deaths Thursday. It was the sixth consecutive day the province reported more than 1,500 new cases.