'Montreal is in an excellent position,' says public health director during summer's last COVID-19 news conference
Montreal public health officials held what they hope to be their last news conference of the summer Tuesday, saying the COVID-19 situation looks positive in the city.
The news conference was held shortly after Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced the entire province is slated to move into the green zone by Monday.
“Montreal is in an excellent position, and all of our indicators continue to improve,” said Montreal public health director Mylene Drouin. “There will be new easing of measures, so of course we'll be able to take advantage, to see our friends and loved ones, to take up activities that we had left aside, and take advantage of the summer.”
Montreal counted 324 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, an average of 46 per day.
Drouin owed the decrease in new cases to a number of factors, including the summer weather, when the virus is less likely to spread, as well as the success of the vaccination campaign.
“It’s very encouraging and I really want to thank the population for answering the call. Coverage for the general population is 68 per cent. If we look at just 12 and upwards, 78 per cent. A coverage with two doses is at 18 per cent,” she said.
Despite the positive news, the public health director continued to stress the importance of vaccinations – particularly for younger Montrealers. Fifty-five per cent of children 12 to 17 have received a first dose of the vaccine, as have 71 per cent of those 18 to 29.
“So, that's approximately 80,000 people that we must reach as quickly as possible in order to have coverage of 75 per cent in all our age groups,” said Drouin.
TARGETED APPROACH
While mass vaccination sites will remain open, the city is also looking at targeted approaches in neighbourhoods, including a travelling ‘vaxivan,’ and vaccinations in parks and at sporting events.
“We really want to reach most of our population,” said Sonia Belanger, CEO of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montreal. “There’s no reason for us not to reach our 75 per cent and more for the 12 to 35-year-olds. There’s really no reason not to reach that.”
DELTA VARIANT
Officials also said they continue to have concerns about the Delta variant.
“The Delta variant, as we know, is twice as transmissible as the U.K. variant. The rates of hospitalizations are twice as high, than with the U.K. variant. And we saw this in several countries, despite high rates of vaccination. We see that there are some significant increases including with our neighbours in Ontario,” said Drouin.
Montreal has counted 21 presumptive cases of the Delta variant since the end of April, and currently has six presumptive cases.
“In place with all the labs, we've put in place on modalities to be able to detect it very quickly,” said Drouin.
DROUIN'S CONTRACT RENEWED
Belanger took the opportunity of the summer’s last news conference to announce that Mylene Drouin’s mandate has been renewed, meaning she will continue in her role as the city’s public health director until 2025.
“This nomination should please all Montrealers. And I think that you were very present during this pandemic, and we are fortunate to have had you,” she said.
Drouin said it was a “pleasure,” adding that she was thankful for the vote of confidence.
“It's a pleasure for me to continue to serve Montrealers and to work to keeping Montrealers healthy and protecting them against threats, but to continue to find against social inequalities in health,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.