Montreal Journalist Says Montrealers Are "Riding Blind" Without Access To PCR and Wastewater Testing

Montreal and the rest of the province is reopening, as all COVID-19 restrictions have been removed – excluding the mask mandate. But is it too soon?

Aaron Derfel, the healthcare journalist at the Montreal Gazette, who has been doing groundbreaking reporting on the pandemic in Quebec – even briefly getting blocked on Twitter by Quebec Premier Francois Legault for his critique on the province’s mismanagement of COVID-19 – says we don’t fully know the state the province is in.

Without accurate PCR testing or wastewater testing to tell us if the situation is getting worse or better, Montrealers and Quebeccers are expected to, as Derfel explained, “ride blind” through the rest of the pandemic.

Derfel said in Florida there’s a high death rate, as it’s a free for all without any COVID-19 restrictions in place.

He acknowledged that Canadians are fed up with the pandemic and with restrictions, noting the truckers convoy. However, Derfel said, "the virus is charting its own path".

The pandemic taking over as already failing healthcare system can cause other health issues to go under the radar. Derfel said cancer patients not being screened, resulting in more cancer-related deaths.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault called removing restrictions a "calculated risk", but both the healthcare system and immunocompromised bear the weight.

Derfel said booster vaccinations have been stalled in Montreal and in Quebec, with waning immunity among those who received their booster shot, noting hospitalizations among this category. He assured that doesn’t mean vaccines aren’t working, but that there is waning immunity.

Derfel cited that Scientific American, a science magazine, said that Omicron is the most contagious in history.

He said the sixth wave is occurring in Europe and will hit Montreal and the rest of the province sometime in April. He noted that some of the public and media have said that the Omicron variant is mild, but he countered that it's had the second largest death wave during the pandemic.

While we’ve assessed that the province isn’t in a safe position to reopen, what does the situation need to look like in order to safely reopen the province?

Derfel said it's safe to reopening if in the past 4 months there have not been continuous hospitalizations. He identified that in the last four months there's been high hospitalizations leading to an intense lockdown. Derfel said the government should rebrand public health precautions to have the public think of the situation in the sense of what has happened in the last four months.

 So how can we keep safe despite reopening measures?

Derfel said we must maintain stringent public health and a high vaccination rate to keep BA.2 in check. "I urge people to get their shot, think of it like a tune up of your immune system – And wear your mask," said Derfel.