STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC April 19, 2021
Provincial checkpoints, school closures and the closing of non-essential businesses were a few of the newly announced measures put into place over the last week as the Quebec government attempts to control the spread of the third wave.
Special emergency measures were applied to . . .
the entire Outaouais region, including the Pontiac, on April 14, and they are set to remain in place until at least April 25. They include:
Both primary and secondary schools have now shifted to virtual learning.
Businesses deemed non-essential are closed and have shifted to curbside pick-up where possible.
The curfew that had been pushed to 9:30 p.m. in the Pontiac was rolled back to beginning at 8 p.m., and it will continue to end each morning at 5 a.m.
The maximum allowed number of people within places of worship was also reduced, down to 25 from 250 previously.
During an April 13 press conference, Premier François Legault pointed out that while it was previously believed that spread was happening just within cities like Gatineau, it is becoming clear that the virus is spreading throughout the entire region’s territory.
The Pontiac service area (RLS) continues to see higher COVID numbers than observed during the first and second waves of the virus, with the CISSSO listing 60 active cases as of April 19, an increase of 14 from last week.
Case totals appear to have spiked significantly in the Fort Coulonge and Mansfield et Pontefract area, with the municipalities having 16 and 24 cumulative cases, respectively. This is up from five or less (minimum one) and 12, respectively, last Monday, although the specific by-municipality figures are only updated by the CISSSO every Thursday.
Sheenboro became the twelfth municipality within the MRC Pontiac that the virus has made its way to, and it was listed as having five or less cumulative cases.
The Municipality of Pontiac saw its cumulative total jump from 80 to 91, while both Shawville and Campbell’s Bay rose by one cumulative case, from 14 to 15 and from five or less to six, respectively. Bristol, Bryson, L’Isle aux Allumettes, L’Île du Grand Calumet, Otter Lake, Thorne and Waltham remain at the five or less cumulative case mark.
The RLS Pontiac’s total case number since the pandemic began was sitting at 220 as of Monday, which is more than double what it was two weeks ago, when it was 104.
The Outaouais had 1,056 active cases (10,390 total, 9,149 recovered) as of April 19, which is an increase of 33 from April 12. After seeing a 290-case single-day increase last Monday, the regional daily average of new cases was 169. There were 55 hospitalizations at the designated COVID-19 centre, with seven of those people in intensive care units. This is an increase of five hospitalizations and four intensive care patients from last week.
The cumulative death toll rose by seven from last week, and there have now been 185 people who have died due to the virus in the region.
As of April 14, residents under 60 who are providing essential services and working in high risk outbreak settings can make an appointment to receive the vaccine at the designated vaccination centres. Appointments for people aged 55 and older can be made at select pharmacies in the Pontiac and around the Outaouais to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Although schools remain closed, COVID cases were confirmed by two Fort Coulogne area schools within the Hauts Bois de l’Outaouais School Service Centre as well at Pontiac High School (PHS).
On April 18, École Secondaire Sieur de Coulonge (ESSC) sent out letters to parents of students in the class group 42, notifying them of two confirmed cases among students in the class. Another letter was sent on April 19 regarding a case in the same class grouping, marking ESSC’s tenth positive case.
On April 16, ESSC also sent letters out to parents noting three different cases among students. Two were from the PRE-DEP class while the third case was a student from the CPC class group.
Meanwhile on April 15, the Poupore Pavilion confirmed a third case in a letter sent out to parents of students in the affected class.
The PHS case, which is the school’s first, was confirmed in a letter sent out to parents on April 14.
