Regional update: Second COVID-19 death in the Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands
MARIA: – The death of a second senior citizen attributable to COVID-19 was reported on April 6 by the Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands Public Health Board.
Just a day after Gustave Joseph’s death, a woman died at Maria hospital from complications linked to the coronavirus. Before being hospitalized, she too was a resident of the Manoir du Havre in Maria, the only major source of COVID-19 outbreak in the region so far.
The director general of the region’s Public Health Board, Dr. Iv Bonnier-Viger, points out that the victim was suffering from “serious illnesses” prior to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bonnier-Viger is reporting eight new cases of COVID-19 in the region, which brings the total to 62. Some of the new cases are people that were identified during the epidemiological investigations triggered at the end of March in connection with the Manoir du Havre outbreak.
According to a count made public on April 5 (Sunday), 39 cases of COVID-19 originated from the Manoir du Havre outbreak. An updated count specific to that private residence for seniors was not available mid-afternoon on Monday.
Dr. Bonnier-Viger specifies that some of the new cases involve people that were already being followed by the Public Health Board and are not linked with the Manoir du Havre outbreak.
There is consequently still no community transmission of the coronavirus in the Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands, the origins of the 62 cases have been retraced.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bonnier-Viger cannot confirm how many additional people will be placed in quarantine following the case of an infected employee of the E. Gagnon et Fils snow crab processing plant, located in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé.
The case was confirmed on Saturday and the plant was closed until April 7 inclusively. According to Bill Sheehan, vice-president of E. Gagnon et Fils, “a family link can be made between people that were infected at the Manoir du Havre and the plant employee.”
Dr. Bonnier-Viger explains that “the plant had already adopted the required means to avoid transmission,” and he is therefore “not worried about the resumption of production. Experts looked at the (prevention) measures to be adopted. Those measures were already in place,” he says, referring to the period prior to the positive test of the infected employee.
Regional Update: First COVID-19 fatality on the Gaspé Peninsula
MARIA: – The Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands has reported its first death due to the COVID19 pandemic.
A 79-year-old resident of the Manoir du Havre in Maria died on the night of April 4 at the Maria hospital, six days after being admitted. A significant COVID-19 outbreak was reported at that private residence for seniors on March 31.
The family of Gustave Joseph, the deceased patient, talks publicly about the case. Marcel Joseph, his nephew, points out that his uncle was suffering from heart and lung problems before his March 29 admission at the Maria hospital. “He was already very sick. He was in contact with it (the virus) and caught it. My sister works in a Montreal hospital and she had told me that would he catch it, he wouldn’t survive. He was admitted to the hospital on Sunday. He was very, very weak. He died alone. I had not seen him in a month because he couldn’t have any visitors. It was too dangerous for him,” explains Marcel Joseph, who lives in Paspebiac.
The Manoir du Havre has so far, generated 39 of the region’s 54 cases of COVID-19. The infection was unknowingly transmitted by an employee after she spent three days in Quebec City. She infected 10 residents and many others who she was in contact with, after her return from the trip and before her March 27 hospitalization.
Despite the numerous harsh comments, especially on social media, the Joseph family stays very calm and refuses to blame anybody. “It is not anybody’s fault. My uncle was very well treated at the Manoir du Havre and he received very good care from the hospital staff,” assures Marcel Joseph.
He adds that his uncle was an important part of his life. “I come from a family of 12 kids and my father died when I was one. He was one family member who helped us. That is why we are a closely-knit family.”
Marcel Joseph and his daughter Kim Arsenault Joseph are asking people to “respect Mr. Legault’s rules,” referring to the premier of Quebec, who insists on social distancing and the importance of basic sanitary rules. “Everyone who dies of COVID-19 dies alone. Nobody should die in those conditions,” she states.
Meanwhile, 11 new cases of COVID-19 were added to the region’s total on April 5. “They are all related to the Manoir du Havre outbreak,” says Dr. Iv Bonnier-Viger, Director general of the Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands Public Health Board. Those new cases do not involve any residents though.
In Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé, the management of the E. Gagnon et Fils snow crab processing plant has decided to close the facility until April 7 inclusively, as precaution because an employee was confirmed to have COVID-19. A list of all the employees that could have been in contact with that staff member was created and an epidemiological investigation is underway.