The situation across the province remains stable, but very little decrease in new cases and hospitalizations has been seen. Nationwide, however, the curve does not seem to be flattening. In a press conference on Friday, Oct. 30, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam encouraged Canadians to cut down contact with others by 25% to help create a decline in cases. At the same press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “Don’t do anything that’s not essential. Got to work, go to school, groceries and so on; medical appointments. But we really need to try and minimize the interaction we have with other people.”
As for the Montérégie, we close out the week with a total of 940 new cases, 29 hospitalizations, and 22 deaths. The MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent currently has 16 active cases, with 15 of these having been diagnosed in the last week. The MRC des Jardins-de-Napierville has reported a total of 11 new cases in the last week, the MRC de Beauharnois-Salaberry has 45 new cases, and the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges reported 76 new cases between Oct. 22 and 28. Numbers in the municipalities have remained steady, with only minimal increases over the past few days in Saint-Chrysostôme, now at 25 total cases, Ormstown at 21, and Howick at 10.
Two new mobile testing clinics have been announced for the coming week. The first is on Nov. 3 and 4 at the Édifice Raphaël-Barrette at 222 rue Alphonse-Desjardins in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. The second is on Nov. 5 at Club Le Rendez-Vous at 319 Rue Brault in Châteauguay. Both the aforementioned clinics will be open from 9:30 am to 4 pm.
As we enter the second month of red zone restrictions, the prime minister stressed the importance of remaining vigilant. “Right now, our most powerful tool remains social distancing,” said Trudeau. “I know the situation is frustrating, […] but it’s temporary. This is what it will take to slow the spread of the virus.”