The government of Quebec, the province hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Canada, announced Tuesday that more than eight in ten deaths came from retirement homes.
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"Among the 1,041 deaths we have had so far, there are 850 who were people in seniors' residences," said Quebec Premier François Legault, during his daily press conference. "Many died after their transfer to the hospital," but these 850 people "came from residences" for the elderly, said François Legault, stressing that these establishments represented "the great challenge" of his government.
However, among the 2,600 residences for the elderly - which include in particular the accommodation and long-term care centers (CHSLD) of the province, the equivalent in Quebec of nursing homes in France - only 300 have "one or more cases" . A total of 4,000 seniors have been infected with the virus in retirement homes across the province. Among these establishments, the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée de Laval has recorded 69 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the website of the Direction de la santé publique, updated on Tuesday. The news comes after the public outcry over the Herron private retirement home in Montreal, where 31 people died in three weeks after being left to their own devices due to massive defections among the nursing staff.
In addition, Quebec succeeded on Monday to "fill 1000 of the 2000" missing caregiver positions in CHSLDs, due to the absence of personnel who have been infected or who fear being infected. By Wednesday evening, "we should be able to fill the 1000 positions that remain" to be filled, assured François Legault, signaling that doctors, nurses and students had already answered the call. With more than 1,000 deaths and more than 20,000 cases of coronavirus, Quebec alone had more than half of the 37,000 cases and 1,700 deaths in Canada on Tuesday.