Quebec City `at a tipping point'

QUEBEC • The deputy premier of Quebec issued a fervent plea on Friday to residents in the Quebec City region to stay home and stay away from one another or risk overwhelming the area's hospitals.

“The hour is grave in the Capitale-Nationale and in Chaudières-Appalaches,” Geneviève Guilbault said. “We need the collaboration of everyone to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The reason we do this is to save lives, to protect our vulnerable people and support our health system.”

The Capitale-Nationale region counts the highest per capita number of active COVID-19 cases, including 117 new cases tallied Friday. Chaudières-Appalaches, the region to the immediate south of Quebec City, has counted nearly 100 new cases for three straight days, including 88 on Friday.

The province as a whole recorded 905 new cases on Friday, a slight drop from the 1,000 cases per day for the past two weeks.

Guilbault's message struck a familiar tone. Health and government officials have been united throughout the month of October, urging Quebecers to redouble their efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We repeat this message frequently,” Guilbault said, “perhaps so frequently that it's as if we no longer hear it. Today I will be extremely frank and direct with you. If we don't retighten our efforts quickly, if we continue to do what we're doing right now in Quebec and on the south shore (the Chaudières-Appalaches region), it's not complicated, we expose ourselves to the possibility that citizens can simply not receive care in certain circumstances.”

Guilbault listed off outbreaks in hospitals that had already prevented some people from receiving treatment. Staffing issues had forced the temporary weekend closure of an obstetrics department at a hospital in Thetford Mines. At the Malbaie hospital an outbreak of COVID-19 had led to surgeries being delayed or transferred. At the Hôtel Dieu hospital in Lévis, the city across the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City, the number of infected staff and patients had grown steadily through the month of October.

Régis Labeaume, Quebec City's mayor, sat beside Guilbault as she spoke at a news conference with his mouth bent into a tight frown.

“My personal feeling,” he said in a low voice, “is that we're at the tipping point. And being at the tipping point is dangerous because there's a 50/50 chance the needle will fall on the wrong side.”

Gatherings have been forbidden in the region since Oct. 1. Police in the Quebec City area have issued between 100 and 200 tickets each week, Guilbault said, which is similar to other Quebec regions.