‘We need to have a margin’
Montreal’s situation too unstable to allow reopening on May 11
QUEBEC — As people in parts of Quebec were able to resume shopping and living somewhat normally after eight long weeks of lockdown, the Legault government hit the brakes Monday in Montreal, saying the COVID-19 situation is too unstable.
And Premier François Legault has called on Quebecers to show patience when it comes to reopening schools because there is no how-to guide on how to do this during a pandemic.
School officials are going through “incredible gymnastics to get ready, but things won’t be perfect on the first day,” he said.
In a new concession, Quebec will now allow teachers to wear protective masks so they feel more at ease in their workplace.
But things are not going as planned in Montreal. Far from it. Of the 32,623 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Quebec, 16,606 are in Montreal. The number is bound to rise because of stepped-up testing that is supposed to hit 14,000 a day by the end of this week.
Of the 2,280 deaths in Quebec, 1,410 were in Montreal. Of the 75 new deaths reported in Quebec on Monday, 72 were in seniors’ residences.
Health officials are no longer comfortable about reopening non-essential businesses in the greater Montreal region May 11 as was planned, Legault said at his pandemic news conference at the National Assembly. The tentative date now will be May 18.
Legault said that although the province freed up 7,000 hospital beds to handle COVID-19 cases, 1,772 are now occupied, mainly in Montreal. That means the Montreal region has less leeway and opening retail stores could worsen the situation.
“The situation is very tight,” Legault said. “If we reopen and when we’ll reopen, we’ll probably have more cases in our hospitals. So right now the situation is under control with the way it’s managed, with the number of people that we have right now continuing to stay home.
“But if we open a bit, we need to have a margin and we don’t see this margin today.”
Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s director of public health, noted that with new hot spots on the island — Montreal North and Park Extension — the number of hospitalizations is not dropping.
“We are not going down as we thought we would go,” Arruda said, sitting next to Legault.
He said he concurs with Montreal’s director of public health, Dr. Mylène Drouin, who said the conditions are not right to open up Montreal.
Both Drouin and Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante later welcomed the province’s decision.
“I do want to say that I support this decision,” Plante said in Montreal at a joint news conference with Drouin. “It will allow us to carry on with our preparation to ensure that conditions are optimal when we reopen some sectors as well as schools.”
Earlier, interim Liberal leader Pierre Arcand also called on Legault to delay openings.
“The battle is far from won,” Arcand said in a tweet. “It is too soon to talk of deconfinement in Montreal. It’s not realistic. Where is the urgency?”
With the shift in the mood, the government also took a more cautious tone on school and daycare openings. Schools and daycares outside the greater Montreal region are supposed to open May 11 and in the Montreal region May 19.
“We will follow the situation very closely and take a data-driven decision,” Legault said, adding the government also revised its position on the issue of masks for teachers.
“Certain teachers are very worried and would like to wear a face covering,” Legault said. “Public health thinks it’s not necessary, but it can’t hurt.”