MONTREAL -- Dr. Horacio Arruda does not remember whether he recommended stopping the movement of staff between long-term care facilities during the first wave of COVID-19.

On Thursday, Quebec's public health director responded to questions from coroner Gehane Kamel, who is conducting an inquest into deaths in long-term care centres (CHSLDs) during the first months of the pandemic.

The coroner noted that British Columbia banned the movement of staff between facilities in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Arruda said he wasn't sure whether he made that recommendation himself and would have to verify.

He also said that he never had a conversation about this with his counterpart in British Columbia, arguing that the provinces do not necessarily operate in the same way.

"The service organizations are not necessarily the same from province to province at all," he said.

From March to August 2020, no fewer than 5,157 seniors living in Quebec nursing homes died.

During his testimony, Arruda defended the decisions made by the government, including the decision to remove caregivers from seniors' facilities in mid-March.

He explained that caregivers were often vulnerable seniors themselves.

"It was really to protect them and to protect the facility," he said.

Arruda also defended the March 23, 2020 decision to isolate asymptomatic health care workers for 14 days.

He said he was aware that service disruptions might occur, but without this decision, "it could have exploded even more."

Kamel asked why, despite all the existing plans, the offloading of staff had not been better prepared.

"That's the part that escapes me," she said.

To this, Arruda replied that Quebec was facing an "unheard of manpower problem."

MASKS AND SCREENING TESTS

The public health expert was also questioned about why the government took so long to impose the wearing of masks and to institute screening in CHSLDs.

"On April 21, 2020, there were already 4,000 health care workers who were infected," said Dr. Jacques Ramsay, who was assisting the coroner.

Arruda replied that the most important thing at the time was to apply proper infection prevention and control measures, such as hand washing.

He also recalled that in the spring of 2020, Quebec's screening capacity was not "exponential," which is why it was necessary to "test the right people at the right time."

Later, a lawyer representing health care workers asked Arruda if he intended to separate his roles, as he currently wears the hats of both public health director and assistant deputy minister.

But Arruda reiterated that he feels comfortable in his dual role.

His testimony will continue Monday morning.

--This article was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Nov. 11, 2021.