Rapid rise of COVID cases in Montreal is worrisome, says public health director

Dr. Mylène Drouin, Montreal's public health director, is asking Montrealers to cut down on their contacts as the region has seen a "significant" rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks.

Montreal set a new daily record case total Thursday at 648, and there are 33 private seniors' homes and long-term care facilities with at least one confirmed case.

The rise in cases is being seen across the board, Drouin said, in all age groups and neighbourhoods. The positivity rate — the number of cases found per total number of tests — is up to seven per cent.

But some neighbourhoods and age groups stand out.

The largest increases are among school age children and those 85 and up, and the positivity rate is above 15 per cent in six neighbourhoods: Parc-Extension, Côte-des-Neiges, Montréal-Nord, Bordeaux-Cartierville, Saint-Léonard and Rivière-des-Prairies.

"People are fatigued. They are easing up a little, left and right, and that is leading to community transmission that is more sustained," Drouin said.

Most people who are getting COVID are getting it either at home or from people they know, she said. 

One thing they are keeping an eye on is those who have no idea where they got it, an indicator that community transmission is out of control. She said at the moment, the rate is stable at 22 per cent.

Drouin said she is particularly worried about the situation in CHSLDs and private seniors' homes, where there are a total of 33 outbreaks.

She said now is not the time to be planning workplace holiday gatherings or heading out to the grocery store multiple times a week, and even counselled seniors to protect themselves when they have visitors or in some cases, refuse visits.

As Premier François Legault did on Wednesday, Drouin asked for any businesses that could close and allow employees to work remotely to do so.

On Thursday, Legault said he was considering adding restrictions to store opening hours if cases remain at their current level. 

Freeing hospital beds

Sonia Bélanger, head of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, said two weeks ago, there were 200 people in Montreal hospitals with COVID-19.

Now, there are 279 patients, a number that is increasing by the day. 

Among health-care workers, 334 have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and more than 450 are in voluntary isolation while waiting for test results.

Bélanger said all the hospitals in the city are readying for the holiday season by preparing 1,000 beds for COVID patients, a process that is already underway with hospitals scaling back surgeries and other treatments. 

She said expects about half those beds will be available by next week .

That would leave about 4,000 beds for other kinds of patients, she said.