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Fourth covid-19 case in the Gaspé Peninsula
CARLETON – The Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands Public Health Board is reporting a fourth person infected with the coronavirus on the Gaspé and the first three cases in the Magdalen Islands. They had all travelled outside the country over the past few weeks. None of the seven people were hospitalized and their symptoms, so far, have been mild. “Everybody feels relatively well, to my knowledge. (…) The situation remains serious, nonetheless,” states Dr. Iv Bonnier-Viger, Regional director of the Public Health Board.
On a daily basis the Regional Public Health Board follows slightly more than 100 people who have been in contact with the seven infected individuals. “It shows (the new increase) that the virus circulates well and that people must respect the instructions, such as hand washing, coughing into the angle of our elbow and visiting people online, except when some citizens must buy food for others that cannot get out. It is not the right time to visit friends or greet friends,” Dr. Bonnier-Viger insists.
So far, approximately 200 analyses of secretions of Gaspesians and Magdalen Islanders have been sent to one of the eight laboratories located in either Montreal or Quebec City. Of those analyses 170 have received negative results, seven were positive and 30 are still awaiting results.
Once more, Dr. Bonnier-Viger refuses to provide geographical information about the those infected in the region. “The territory is wide and the population is small. It is my duty to preserve the confidentiality of the people. The virus is moving around. Everybody is entitled to confidentiality. There is not a single corner in the world that is protected. Giving details about the location of the cases would give an illusion to think that if we know, it will help. It will not.” Dr. Bonnier-Viger points out that if we know the location of one case, in New Carlisle, it is because that person has decided to openly talk about it.
He reminds the public that the number of cases is rising in Quebec. Premier François Legault announced earlier today that there are 1,013 cases of infected people in Quebec, an increment of 385 over the previous day. The number of deaths in the province remains at four.
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Fishing season likely to start as planned but adjustments could be made as covid-19 crisis evolves
CARLETON – The commercial fishing season will likely start as planned, for fishermen and fish processing workers. That conclusion comes after an exchange between SPEC and two communication officers (one from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and one from Quebec’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food).
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) regulates the aspects related to quotas, fishing gear and the duration of the season (including start and termination dates). Quebec’s department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) deals with fish processing.
Pascale Fortin, spokesperson for DFO, explains that the particular context created by the covid-19 crisis has triggered discussions between the ministry and Quebec’s commercial fisheries’ stakeholders. “The preoccupations and worries of the fisheries stakeholders have been communicated to Minister (Bernadette) Jordan. Amongst those preoccupations, we see the weak state of the markets, the profitability of the enterprises and contamination during fishing and processing operations. For certain fisheries, it was convened with the industry and the Fisheries and Oceans ministry to open as scheduled, notably for seal hunting and snow crab fishing in zone 17,” explains Pascale Fortin,
“At the moment, no other decision has been made in regards to the cancellation or postponement of another type of commercial fishing in Quebec. Minister Jordan is in contact with the provincial ministers of fisheries. Other calls are scheduled with the Quebec fisheries stakeholders tomorrow (March 25),” adds Ms. Fortin, who concedes that things can move pretty quickly.
Zone 17 for snow crab covers the shore between Trois-Pistoles, west of Rimouski, and Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. The crab fishermen will be allowed to set their traps on March 25. Simon Bachand, MAPAQ spokesperson, mentions that “the fisheries are included in the list of essential services issued” by Premier François Legault on March 23 and that “the season can start as planned. All the food processing sector is considered an essential service.” Some of the snow crab caught in the Saint Lawrence River is processed in the Southern Gaspé processing plants.