STEPHEN RICCIO

PONTIAC April 5, 2021 

The entire Outaouais moved back into the red zone status on April 1, although a 10-day lockdown in Gatineau and MRC des Collines will see tighter restrictions than the MRC Pontiac and other MRCs in the region. While schools and non-essential businesses will be . . .

closed for the duration of the lockdown in the city and in des Collines, which includes the Municipality of Pontiac, in-house dining will be curtailed in the Pontiac as a result of the updated red zone measures.Attendance at church services will remain open to a maximum of 250 people in the red zones, while des Collines and Gatineau will have that number lowered to 25. The curfew within the confines of the 10-day lockdown will be rolled back to 8 p.m., while it will remain 9:30 p.m. elsewhere in the region.The changes were announced by Premier François Legault in a press conference on March 31.The CISSSO’s acting director of public health Dr. Brigitte Pinard explained in an April 1 press conference that despite the rollout of vaccinations going well, increased restrictions were needed.“Even if our vaccination rate is increasing – the vaccination campaign is going well – vaccination is not advanced enough to protect the overall population right now,” she said. “So we need additional public health measures to keep infection under control.”Pinard said that the public health authority had seen a higher proportion of younger people among the newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 75 per cent of cases in the last two weeks, as of April 1, being people under the age of 50. COVID variants appear to have played a major role in what is being described as Quebec’s third wave, as the CISSSO reported that 50 per cent of the region’s cases were believed to be variants.Pontiac MNA André Fortin said that it was unfortunate that the region was at a point where severe restrictions were put in place, and he added that the announcement blindsided restaurant owners in the region.“On Tuesday [March 30], the government had said everything was OK, that there would be no additional restrictions and on Wednesday they clearly changed their story,” he said. “A lot of restaurants went out and purchased significantly ahead of the long weekend, took government at their word and really to have that unfortunate turn of events is a kick in the guts to a lot of restaurant owners.”Fortin was also critical of how the government was attributing many outbreaks to young people, yet rapid testing had yet to be deployed in schools, something he said he and his party have been advocating for.“Government has a responsibility with where we’re at in this crisis because it didn’t always put in the preventative actions that could have reduced the spread of the virus in our region,” he said.Active cases in the Pontiac service area (RLS) slightly dropped from 13 last Monday, standing at 12 as of April 5. The cumulative amount since the pandemic began stood at 104, an increase of three from last week.Within the Pontiac RLS, the Municipality of Pontiac’s cumulative amount jumped from 56 to 65 while the Municipality of Mansfield et Pontefract’s total remained at eight. Elsewhere, the Municipality of Shawville continues to have 11 cumulative cases while the municipalities of Bristol, Campbell’s Bay, Fort Coulonge, Île du Grand Calumet, L’Isle aux Allumettes, Otter Lake and Waltham remain under the five or less (minimum one case) designation. The data by municipality is only updated by the CISSSO on Thursdays.The Outaouais had 728 active cases (8,163 total, 7,261 recovered) as of April 5, which is up 273 from last week. The cumulative regional death toll was 174, with two deaths being recorded in the past week.