Horacio Arruda

HealthNewsPolitics

Dr. Horacio Arruda has resigned as Quebec’s National Director of Public Health. While he has held this position since 2012 under governments of different parties, he became a household name in Quebec over the past two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arruda had become a regular fixture on the government’s COVID briefings alongside Premier François Legault and various other government officials.

A spokesperson for the premier confirmed that Arruda had offered his resignation and Legault has accepted. CTV News reported that they had received the resignation letter and printed some parts of it:

“The recent remarks made on the credibility of our opinions and on our scientific rigor undoubtedly cause a certain erosion in the adhesion of the population…In this context, I consider it appropriate to offer you the possibility of replacing me before the end of my term of office, at least as DNSP…Do not see in this gesture as an abandonment on my part, but rather the offer of an opportunity for you to reassess the situation, after several waves [of the pandemic] and in a context in constant evolution.”

The full letter (in French) has since been shared on Twitter.

The government wouldn’t comment further on the resignation at this time but said they would address it in a press conference tomorrow (Tuesday).

News

While the Quebec Government is still allowing home gatherings up to ten people for Christmas, that number drops to six people, or two home bubbles, on Sunday, December 26th. On that same date, restaurants need to only allow six people or two family bubbles sit at the same table.

Quebec Premier François Legault made the announcement at an early evening press conference alongside Christian Dubé, the Minister of Health and Social Services, and National Director of Public Health Dr. Horacio Arruda.

Legault added that while Christmas parties of up to ten people are allowed, he encourages everyone to cancel them if possible and to only go to one (on either the 24th or the 25th). He also said that people over 60 who haven’t received their third vaccine dose are the most vulnerable and should take the most precautions (two meters, open windows, etc.) if going out.

Dubé also said that while cases are skyrocketing (the reason for these measures and the others announced on Monday), they are monitoring the situation in hospitals closely to see if the predictions they received that hospitalizations will increase proportionally come true or if they don’t, as in some other areas with similar vaccination rates.

Legault stressed the importance of vaccination and also testing, but Arruda reminded people that the PCR tests are prioritized for symptomatic people.

While the restrictions announced today weren’t as severe as some were suspecting, the government isn’t ruling out adding more measures.

News

People in Montreal and Laval will have to wait a bit longer to dine indoors in a restaurant. While most of Quebec will be Orange Zones as of May 31st, Montreal and Laval, as well as a few small pockets of other regions, will remain Red Zones for an extra week until June 7th.

Quebec Premier François Legault made the announcement in a late afternoon press conference joined by Christian Dubé, Minister of Health and Social Services, and National Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda. Arruda added that the government had planned on moving the whole province to Orange at the same time, but after speaking with local public health officials, decided to be a bit more cautious and wait the extra week.

Meanwhile, the curfew will still be lifted for everyone across Quebec this Friday and dining on restaurant terrasses will be permitted. Quebec’s overall re-opening plan announced last week is heading forward, only slightly altered.

In addition to indoor dining, people in Orange Zones can go to the gym and elementary and high school students return to in-person classes.

Meanwhile Dubé added that the province is hoping to make people’s second COVID-19 vaccine appointments earlier than scheduled. An announcement on this is expected next week.

HealthNews

All adult Quebecers who want the COVID-19 vaccine will be able to sign up for their first shot in the next two weeks. Starting tomorrow, those aged 50-59 can sign up, with a new age group added to the list every two or three days.

Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé made the announcement at an afternoon press conference joined by National Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda and Daniel Paré, director of the COVID Vaccination Campaign.

The rollout is as follows:

  • April 30: Age 50-59
  • May 3: Age 45-49
  • May 5: Age 40-44
  • May 7: Age 35-39
  • May 10: Age 30-34
  • May 12: Age 25-29
  • May 14: Age 18-24

Most of these people will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine, though some of it could be from Moderna or Johnson & Johnson (which only requires one dose). This is separate from when Quebec made their remaining AstraZeneca vaccine shots available to people aged 45 and up last week. That campaign is still ongoing and clearly identified as separate on the government’s website.

You can make an appointment for your COVID-19 vaccine shot when it becomes available to your age group through the Clic Santé website

News

Quebec has made the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine available to the general public, age 45 and up, as of tomorrow morning. Previously, it was only available to those 55-79 years old or who met certain conditions such as suffering from chronic illness or being a front-line healthcare worker.

Quebec Premier François Legault made the announcement in an early afternoon press conference joined by Christian Dubé, Minister of Health and Social Services, and National Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda. Arruda explained that while Ontario and Alberta lowered the age to get the AstraZeneca shot to 40, Quebec came to a different number after weighing COVID hospitalizations in a particular age group versus the risk of coagulation and blood clots, something that has occurred in a few cases worldwide, generally with younger women.

“The 45-year limit seems to be the right number for Quebec,” Arruda said, adding: “If we were in Ontario, for example, with a much greater incidence, well then, the risk of being hospitalized and of having complications is greater.”

There are 200 000 AstraZeneca shots currently available in Quebec and the province just added 800 000 potential new recipients to the list. So there may be a bit of a race to book appointments when the government’s booking website updates tomorrow morning.

News

Effective immediately, Quebec bars must stop selling alcohol at midnight and all patrons must leave by 1am instead of staying open to the normal 3am. They must also limit capacity to 50% of what is indicated on their liquor permit.

Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé made the announcement today alongside National Public Health Director Horacio Arruda. He pointed to the 130 new COVID-19 cases, an increase, as well as an outbreak that happened at a bar in Brossard on the South Shore of Montreal as reasoning.

The government is also asking bar owners to take down the names and phone numbers of customers who visit so Public Health can call them if someone who tested positive was in the same bar they were at the same time. This is a voluntary registry, and a seemingly ad-hoc one at that for the moment, but Dubé isn’t ruling out making an official version.

Police will be stationed in high traffic areas to make sure bars are following the new rules. Dubé said it will be easier than going into each establishment to ensure social distancing.

Both Dubé and Arruda said that this approach also serves as a reminder that despite the nice weather and deconfinement, the pandemic is not over.

News

UPDATE: The Quebec Government has reversed its decision to only release data weekly and will instead continue to release it on a daily basis.

Yesterday, the Quebec Government announced that it will no longer be publishing daily numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths as it has been since the beginning of the pandemic. They will still be collecting data but only releasing it to the public on a weekly basis.

Today, at a press conference in Montreal, Quebec’s National Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda assured reporters that the data will still be looked at on a daily basis and if there was urgent information that needs to be communicated, it will be. Also, if the numbers start rising, they will go back to daily updates.

Arruda also announced the deconfinement of most of the remaining sectors of the economy. Bars, amusement parks, casinos, spas, water parks and hotels can now re-open while festivals and other large events, overnight camps and combat-related sporting events cannot.

Arruda stressed that these businesses must impose social distancing restrictions, in particular the two-meter rule. He also encouraged wearing masks as much as possible and didn’t rule out reconfinement if COVID numbers spike.

There will undoubtedly be some changes in how some businesses operate. For example, Arruda mentioned that bar patrons will need to remain seated as much as possible and not move around, much like restaurants, so probably no dance floor either.

CultureHealthNews

Quebec Premier François Legault is in Montreal today. Speaking alongside Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, Quebec’s National Director for Public Health Horacio Arruda, Public Health Regional Director Mylène Drouin and Transport Minister François Bonnardel, he announced that Montreal-area schools won’t re-open until the fall.

Primary schools across Quebec, excluding the Greater Montreal Area, re-opened on Monday, with Montreal expected to follow on May 25th provided COVID-19 numbers were dropping on par with World Health Organization criteria for deconfinement. With over 20 000 people infected, they aren’t and Montreal has become Canada’s epicenter for the virus, so it will be late August and September before any schools re-open here.

Pushing re-opening back a few weeks only to close them when the school year ends mid-June would have made no sense according to Legault. Daycares that don’t run on the same school year may re-open June 1, provided Coronavirus containment conditions are met.

Non-essential retail businesses not located in malls or in malls with a separate street entrance in Montreal could possibly re-open on May 25th as planned. That date may, of course, be pushed back.

When they do re-open, though, there will inevitably be more people using public transit. Legault announced that Quebec will assist Montreal in providing masks for commuters, which Plante welcomed.

The Premier and his colleagues have been recommending people wear face coverings whenever they leave their home for a few days now, and in particular when they ride public transit. While they won’t rule out making masks mandatory on transit at some point in the future, we’re not there yet.