Montral-Nord responds to call for help as COVID-19 cases climb in the borough

As the number of COVID-19 cases rises in Montral-Nord, the borough has announced a series of new measures aimed at containingthe outbreak.

City officials outlined theirintervention plan on Wednesday after community groups called for more resources and testing in a borough that now has 1,153 confirmed cases.

That's more than any other borough or municipalityon the island, accountingfor 10 per cent of the city's infections and representing a rate of 132 cases per 10,000 residents.

Montral-Nord isone of the poorest districts inMontreal, with more than 20 per cent of residents living on a low income. Borough Mayor Christine Blacksaid she recognizes how povertyexacerbates the challenge people already face ina pandemic.

In a statement Wednesday, she vowed the city will "do everything to ensure the physical and psychological security of our citizens."

Heradministration is setting up a working group, made up of officials from the borough, Montreal public health, the regional health agencyandLa Table de quartier de Montral-Nord a coalition of community groups.

Among the planned measures:

• The borough will buy and distribute 2,000 disposablemasks and 5,000 reusable masks.
• Outreach workers will fan out in the community on bike and on foot, to discourage public gatherings andshareinformation about health directives.
• Sidewalks will be widened to create "health corridors"near elementary schools and on some commercial streets.
• Information posters will be placedaround the borough.
• An information campaign will be launched to educatebusinesses and residential building owners.

Montreal public health also announced a new testing sitewould be set up May 1in the community. Anyone with symptoms in the borough can call514-644-4545 for an appointment.

'We could have acted earlier'

Concerned citizens in Montral-Nord say the borough should have acted more quickly, instead of waiting for a call for help from community groups.

"What is frustrating and shocking is that everyone knew where we were headed," said Will Prosper, a former RCMP officer and co-founder of Monral-Nord Rpublik. "We are in reaction, when we could have acted earlier."

Bochra Mana of Paroles d'excluEs, an anti-poverty group, said Montral-Nord should havealready had measures in place similar to those inCte-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grce.

That west-end boroughhas widened busy sidewalks byclearing a parking lane on busy streets such asMonkland Avenue, so people can keep a safe distance from each other.

These are the types of concerns raised by local community groups and concerned residents in an open letter sentto public health authoritieson Monday.

"A health crisis like the one we are experiencing throws a more striking light on the systemic inequalities experienced by the population of northern Montreal," the letter stated.

Montral-Nord should have been a priority much sooner given the already abysmal and well-known difficulties residents face in the area,say the letter's signatories.

To successfully open the economy in the borough, the groups said, city officials must firstdo more testing andbe more transparent about data. The letter also calls for awareness campaigns and wider pedestrian corridors.

Conditions ripe for spread of coronavirus

With tight living spaces in Montral-Nord, people go to parks and other public spaces to spread out, saidBrunilda Reyes, who runsLes Fourchettes de l'Espoir a non-profit group that works to feed those in need.

On top of that, many women of Haitian background who live in the borough work inCHSLDs and other seniors' residences, according to Christine Guay, who headsImpulsion-Travail, an organization that helps womenfind work.

"Culturally, they value themselves by taking care of others," she said. "They are also very comfortable with the elderly, for whom they have sympathy and interest."

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Indeed, more than 40 per cent of the infections in Montral-Nord are associated with CHSLDs or other types of long-term residences, said the director of Montreal's public health agency, Dr. Mylne Drouin, at Tuesday's news briefing.

More than 20 per cent of those infectedare health-care workers, she said.

Quebec Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arrudareiterated her comments during a provincial news briefing Wednesday, saying further studieswill be done to better understand how the coronavirus spreads but it's clear health-care workers are transmitting it to the community.

As Montreal public health zeroes in on acute outbreaks like that in Montral-Nord, Drouin said thelarger strategy will be to give everybody in every neighbourhood more access to testing.