More mask-wearing in Quebec seniors homes as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rise

MONTREAL — Mask-wearing will be mandatory in common areas of private seniors residences in several parts of Quebec starting next week, the Health Department said Friday, amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in those facilities.

The new mask order will affect residences in regions such as Montreal and its northern suburb Laval, Estrie and Outaouais.

Health officials said there were 67 active cases of COVID-19 at seniors residences across Quebec. Nearly half those cases were linked to an outbreak at Manoir Gouin in Montreal, where 32 residents have active cases of COVID-19 and three have died.

There have been no other deaths linked to active COVID-19 outbreaks at seniors residences in the province, the Health Department added.

Health officials said there were 41 cases of COVID-19 linked to long-term care facilities and two deaths connected with active outbreaks in those centres.

Meanwhile, the Health Department confirmed Thursday it had asked hospital managers in five regions, including Montreal, Laval and the Outaouais, to increase the number of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients.

The increase is “primarily a result of the demand for intensive care beds for COVID patients,” Health Department spokeswoman Marjorie Larouche wrote in an email. Adding to the number of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients will reduce the number of beds available for other patients, she said.

A government health-care research institute, INESSS, said Thursday that while the number of new COVID-19 cases in the province has stabilized after rising for two months, it expected the number of hospitalizations linked to the disease to continue rising over the next three weeks.

The Health Department reported 701 new COVID-19 cases Friday and two more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus. It said the number of hospitalizations rose by 15, to 298, after 50 patients entered hospital in the past 24 hours and 35 were discharged. There were 91 people in intensive care, a rise of one.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2021.