STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC April 12, 2021
Active case numbers ballooned across the Outaouais in the past week, with the CISSSO listing a 290 one-day increase on April 12 to bring the region’s current active total to 1,023.
According to CISSSO media relations officer Camille Brochu-Lafrance, the high increase is at least in part due to catching up a buildup of testing results, although she didn’t specify to what extent.
Meanwhile, the number of active cases in the Pontiac service area (RLS) has jumped to 46, up from just 12 last week.
Cases emerged in the municipalities of Thorne and Bryson for the first time, with both being listed as having five or less (minimum one) cumulative cases as of Monday.
Elsewhere within the Pontiac RLS, the Municipality of Pontiac cumulative amount jumped from 65 to 80, the Municipality of Mansfield et Pontefract cumulative total rose from eight to 12 and the Municipality of Shawville total increased from 11 cumulative cases to 14. The municipalities of Bristol, Campbell’s Bay, Fort Coulonge, Île du Grand Calumet, L’Isle aux Allumettes, Otter Lake and Waltham continue to remain under the five or less (minimum one case) designation. The data by municipality is only updated by the CISSSO on Thursdays.
The provincial government made adjustments to red zone restrictions that are in place in regions such as the Outaouais on April 6, including the closing of gyms and the lowering of capacity within places of worship.
The changes came into effect on April 8 after the region was already re-designated as a red zone on April 1. Maximum attendance in churches was initially capped at 250 people, but it was lowered to 25 in Premier François Legault’s recent announcement.
An additional aspect to the restrictions is high school students in grade 9-11 adopting a learning model where students attend class on alternating days.
The changes are an about face from a recent provincial government decision that gyms would be permitted to stay open within red zones that came into effect on March 26.
The Hauts Bois de l’Outaouais School Services Centre (CSSHBO) confirmed COVID-19 cases in two of its Pontiac-area schools on April 9, Poupore Pavillion in Fort Coulonge and at Ecole L’Envolée in Campbell’s Bay, in letters sent out to parents.
A student from the sixth grade class at L’Envolée and one in the special education class at Poupore Pavillion both tested positive for the virus, and while both schools remain open each class has been temporarily closed. According to another letter sent to parents on April 12, a second student from the class at Poupore tested positive.
The Outaouais total of 1,023 active cases (9,204 total, 8,002 recovered) is an increase of 295 from April 5. The cumulative death toll rose by four from last week, to 178. There were also 50 hospitalizations at the designated COVID-19 centre, with three of those people being held in intensive care.
