Quebec faces fallout from an early March break; a modelling system in B.C. suggests social distancing is helping. Public health officials continue to urge caution. "
Stay inside your bubble," said Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer.
Quebec’s spring break, March 2-9, was “was at the worst time, right before people were warned not to travel,” François Legault, Quebec’s premier said today. This meant that people returning home from international travel were not warned to self-isolate, increasing the possibility of the spread of the virus through Quebec’s communities. On Friday, Legault announced another 392 cases, as well as another 10 deaths.
One of the reasons Quebec has been able to identify so many cases is that it has decentralized its testing system into a network of at least 10 regional laboratories, explained Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, in today’s press conference. In contrast, Ontario has a
backlog of some 10,000 tests, due, in part, to a shortage of
chemicals needed for the tests as well as not enough labs. It takes
four or five days to get results. Right now, testing is done in four public health labs as well as two commercial ones and eight hospital labs, though the province expects that to expand to upward of 30 sites by mid-April.
With 2,021 cases and 18 deaths, “Quebec is on pause right now,” Legault said. He reminded everyone that Quebeckers have to remain at home, except to get or give essential services like groceries or health care. Even then, everyone has to stay apart from each other.
Coronavirus in Canada: These charts show how our fight to 'flatten the curve' is going - Macleans.ca