Montreal held variants at bay for as long as possible, Drouin says
Drouin #Drouin
Montreal has managed to delay the new coronavirus variants from rapidly spreading, but an increase in COVID-19 cases is expected any day, the city’s public health director warned on Wednesday.
During a news conference, Dr. Mylène Drouin said the city resisted the variants for as long as it could. But after new infections reached a plateau in recent weeks, cases are now likely to start climbing again.
“Montrealers are showing great resilience and adapting to changing measures. Without you, we wouldn’t have managed to slow the variants as we have until now,” Drouin said, warning the next weeks will be crucial.
“Given the urban context, we know it can catch fire more easily here and it will be harder to control transmission.”
Drouin said modelling shows an increase in cases is imminent, but she hopes the new measures Quebec added for red zones on Tuesday will help slow the spread. About 42 per cent of new cases in the city are now linked to the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant .
Montreal has avoided becoming the Quebec epicentre of the pandemic again thanks to a mix of residents respecting the measures and the public health department quickly intervening when there are outbreaks, Drouin said.
Authorities have ordered certain workplaces closed due to the size of outbreaks in recent weeks, she added, but not because they weren’t respecting public health measures. There are now 142 outbreaks linked to the variants in Montreal, and most consist of fewer than 10 cases.
Sonia Bélanger, head of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, said the situation in Montreal’s hospitals is stable while the health network prepares for the third wave to soon bring more patients.
As of Wednesday, there were 265 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the city, including 71 in intensive care.
Bélanger said patients in intensive care are younger than during the previous two waves and remain hospitalized longer, putting more pressure on staff.
“Doctors are unanimously telling us younger adults, in their 40s and 50s, are ending up in intensive care and are very sick. And many of them did not have any illnesses before (contracting the virus),” Bélanger said. “That’s what’s surprising. Some doctors have also told us they have patients in their 20s in hospital.”
As for the vaccination campaign, at least 75 per cent of people over 60 in Montreal have either received their first dose or have booked an appointment for it.
The number of people getting vaccinated is expected to climb now that essential workers and people with chronic illnesses will soon be eligible, Bélanger added.
Starting Thursday, people 55 and older will also be able to receive the AstraZeneca shot at the city’s vaccination centres without having to book an appointment first .
Drouin urged Montrealers to take advantage of the opportunity.
“It is a good vaccine for the age group, it is secure and it is effective to prevent severe forms of the illness and against the U.K. variant,” she said.
A pilot project launched in March has also been a success, Drouin said.
The project aimed to vaccinate teachers and parents of young children in neighbourhoods where the variant was more present, including Côte-St-Luc and Côte-des-Neiges.
In all, Drouin said roughly 14,000 people received their first dose through the project, including more than 11,000 parents, 1,100 teachers and 550 educators.
Montreal reported 299 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday , but no deaths.
jfeith@postmedia.com
All our coronavirus-related news can always be found at montrealgazette.com/tag/coronavirus.
Sign up for our email newsletter dedicated to local COVID-19 coverage at montrealgazette.com/coronavirusnews.
Help support our local journalism by subscribing to the Montreal Gazette here.