COVID-19 update: Outaouais cases follow province with increase

More than a week since being declared in the Québec government’s Red Zone level of alert, the number of COVID-19 cases in the Outaouais on October 19 reached 2,063 - marking a rise of 39 from the previous day. With 661 active cases in the community and more than 1,700 people having recovered from the virus so far, the Centre intégré de la santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) reported that 35 people in the region had died from coronavirus.

Over the previous week, CISSSO said it conducted an average of 381 screening tests per day. Gatineau’s urban core has accounted for more than 1,700 cases; the MRC de Papineau recorded 173; the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais had 89 cases; the MRC de Pontiac saw 25 cases; and, the MRC de la Vallée-de-la-Gatineau counted 16 cases. The origin of 13 cases had yet to be determined. Seeing 17 people hospitalized last week, none required intensive care. Out of 163 CISSSO employees infected so far, 138 were said to have recovered.

--Outbreaks in Seniors’ Residences

There have been outbreaks in a dozen of Gatineau’s health care establishments and seven are currently affected. Those include Résidence Cité Jardin in Gatineau (28 active cases, one death), Aylmer’s Résidence l’Initial (one active case) and CHSLD la Renaissance (four active cases), the Gatineau Hospital (one active case, two deaths), the Centre Hospitalier Pierre-Janet (one active case), RPA Chartwell Notre-Dame (one active case), and the CHSLD la Pietà (one active case).

Additional safety measures include suspending or restricting non-essential services and activities, prohibiting people from visiting one another except for single individuals visiting another single person, informal caregivers, people offering support services, and for planned labour – noting that social distancing is still encouraged in those cases. Dining room restaurants are to remain closed for the time being, with only take-out services allowed. Bars will be closed indefinitely. All organized sports and recreation activities will be suspended until further notice. Interregional travel is not recommended.

Those wanting to get tested for COVID-19 can set up an appointment by calling 1-877-644-4545 or 1-819-644-4545.