Montreal Gazette

Côte-st-luc expects virus surge, declares emergency

- CHRISTOPHE­R CURTIS ccurtis@postmedia.com

Côte-st-luc declared a state of emergency Tuesday afternoon in anticipati­on of a surge in COVID -19 cases as seniors return from wintering abroad.

The borough enacted the measures because it has a higher percentage of seniors within its population than any other city in Quebec. To “save human lives,” the city can now spend emergency funds or take “immediate action” ordinarily outside of its operation, according to the Civil Protection Act.

There are now at least 74 confirmed cases of COVID -19 in Quebec and officials say those numbers will continue to spike until the effects of social distancing, school closures and other mitigating measures are felt.

Seniors are most susceptibl­e to the virus and, in Montreal, tens of thousands are holed up in their apartments, living on supplies and medicine delivered to them by volunteers.

Maryse Bisson is in charge of a network of community organizati­ons that help 41,000 seniors across the island. With the city closing most of its facilities, most of those organizati­ons are without a central base of operation.

“We’re still running Meals on Wheels programs and our workers are calling seniors at home, and so far they’re toughing it out,” Bisson said. “They’re incredibly resilient, but this is getting harder every day. Many of our volunteers are seniors and they can’t be out there because it’s not safe for them. So we’re scrambling.”

Meanwhile, other vulnerable population­s are also bearing the brunt of the impact from the crisis.

Montreal’s largest homeless shelters will pare down some services to prevent further spread of COVID -19, but the city is looking at reopening the old Royal Victoria Hospital or Hôtel Dieu Hospital to house the needy.

Meanwhile, food banks are struggling to get boots on the ground to sort and deliver packages for the 160,000 Montrealer­s who use their services.

“We need manpower, we need volunteers to make sure we can keep providing our services,” said Richard Daneau, the executive director of Moisson Montréal. “Hunger isn’t a life choice . ... This crisis is putting a lot of pressure on the system and we need every volunteer, every donation we can get.

“It isn’t sexy, but we need cash to fuel our trucks and keep the machinery alive.”

Donations are only meeting about 70 per cent of what the island’s network of 250 food banks needs. If this continues for much longer, small community groups will have to tap into their financial reserves to stay alive.

Mayor Valérie Plante said about 40 blue-collar workers will be sent to help and asked Montrealer­s to consider donating time, money or food to Moisson Montréal.

The city will suspend building inspection­s and other in-person services while health officials across Quebec fight to get the pandemic under control.

In the face of the mounting crisis, city council will have its monthly meeting Monday, but some councillor­s will be participat­ing from home. Citizens won’t be allowed to attend, but they can watch a live stream online and submit questions to their elected officials.

 ??  ?? Valérie Plante
Valérie Plante

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada