Montreal Gazette

‘Not time to have a party,’ Legault tells Quebec youth

Fatal infections will be ‘on your conscience for the rest of your life’

- RENÉ BRUEMMER

Quebec Premier François Legault sent a special message to the youth of the province Tuesday, imploring them to limit social interactio­n to slow the spread of coronaviru­s as the number of cases in Quebec continues to grow.

At the same time, he issued a chilling warning to all members of society, noting that those who don’t do their part could have the deaths of many on their conscience for the rest of their lives.

“I was young, too. I know there is a time when you don’t listen to older people, but it’s critical now,” Legault said. “It’s not time to have a party, to get together.”

The spread of COVID -19 in places like Italy and South Korea has shown that young people can serve as vectors in the propagatio­n of the disease, Legault said.

“Maybe as a young man or woman you are not at risk of death, but you can give the virus to your grandmothe­r or grandfathe­r, and then they will be at risk.” He called on youth and sports leaders and social influencer­s to help get this message out. The government is starting its own informatio­n campaign, featuring the motto: “Spread informatio­n, not the virus.”

Asked if the government will start policing the populace and apprehend or fine individual­s who do not comply with social isolation directives, Legault appealed instead to their moral conscience.

“I want to tell people it’s serious. If you travelled and have symptoms and you transmit them and the person dies, you will have that on your conscience for the rest of your life,” he said. “That’s how you have to see it.”

Legault made the appeal in his daily update on the coronaviru­s outbreak.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Quebec climbed to 74 Tuesday afternoon, up from 50 the day before. Five individual­s have been hospitaliz­ed. On Friday morning, Quebec had 17 confirmed cases.

Ontario declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as the province reported its first death from the disease, a man in his 70s from Barrie. It brings the total number of deaths in Canada to five.

The four others occurred at a long-term care facility in North Vancouver. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government would provide loans of up to $5,000 to help Canadians stranded abroad to find passage home.

Quebec also announced the deadline for filing tax returns is being extended to June 1. The deadline for paying taxes still owed for individual­s and individual­s in businesses has been pushed back to July 31.

Legault said the National Assembly is being suspended until April 21, to avoid large gatherings and to allow MNAS to return to their ridings and help their constituen­ts.

Health Minister Danielle Mccann reminded people they should avoid being in groups, no matter where they live. She said there are confirmed COVID-19 cases in small towns as well as large cities.

“That means no bingo, no gathering together,” Mccann said.

Legault says he is suggesting that tourists who come to Quebec self-isolate for 14 days. He said he cannot order it because that is something that has to be done with the federal government. “We’re not there yet,” he said. Asked whether individual­s should start informing on people they know who are showing symptoms or have been abroad and are not in self-isolation, Quebec public health director Horacio Arruda said “we are not at the point of denouncing people, we are not the Gestapo.”

But he said it was time for people to take a more serious tone with those shirking their duties, and noted that public health authoritie­s have the legal right to forcefully quarantine individual­s known to be sick.

Other countries are struggling to manage the wave of sick people who have to be treated in hospitals.

Mccann said Quebec has 1,000 intensive care beds and another 18,000 hospital beds that can be used. Six thousand of those beds are being freed up by cancelling elective surgeries, and Quebec can add another 3,000 beds in hotels and mobile units, she said.

“The network will be able to care for people,” she said. “We know we will be able to give the care needed.”

More than 10,000 Quebecers with health-care experience have volunteere­d to help, Legault said. The government has signed up 1,800 of those workers. Quebecers have also answered the call to give blood, and should continue to do so, he said.

At the same time, 300 medical specialist­s in Quebec are unable to work because they have either put themselves under self-isolation in keeping with government directives or because their union, the federation of medical specialist­s, has ordered them to if they travelled out of country recently, Presse Canadienne reported.

Legault assured Quebecers who are sick but still going into work because they are at risk of missing their paycheques that the provincial government will support them, and said programs for freelance workers should be announced shortly.

“If you need to be isolated, please isolate yourself . If ever the federal government does not cover you, we will cover you.”

Asked if he agreed with B.C. Premier John Horgan’s criticism of the federal government for closing the border to foreign nationals except those coming from the United States, Legault noted that Canada gets much of its fresh fruit and vegetables and medication­s through deliveries from the United States.

British Columbia is on the border with Washington state, which has suffered many cases of the virus, particular­ly in seniors’ centres, and thus is more attuned to the risks, Legault said.

“I understand that we could, with the collaborat­ion of the U.S., that we could allow the circulatio­n of goods, but not people, but it’s not always easy to negotiate with the American president.”

The government is ramping up its efforts to provide mass testing in response to the examples of other countries like South Korea, which showed its efficiency in limiting the spread of COVID-19.

The province is able to handle 4,500 tests for analysis every day, Legault said. It opened nine new testing centres Tuesday, bringing the total to 31, and will continue to open more.

 ?? POSTMEDIA NEWS SOURCE: QUEBEC HEALTH DEPT. ??
POSTMEDIA NEWS SOURCE: QUEBEC HEALTH DEPT.
 ??  ?? François Legault
François Legault

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