Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary:
All right, that is the Prime Minister of Canada on this Saturday giving us an update on his government’s response to COVID-19 and a message there for kids to celebrate their mothers in some way tomorrow. and I think it’s because we’re not expecting the prime minister to emerge tomorrow because he’s also got a mother, and a mother in his life, and a wife, and three kids of his own. So I’ll bring back Catherine Cullen to talk a little bit about what we heard there from the Prime Minister. I was most interested, Catherine, in what he had to say about the masks.
Yes.
Rosemary:
That were rejected, 8 million masks, n-95 masks rejected after some testing by health Canada.
Yeah, let’s start by giving the viewers a sense of the context here. This was a shipment of 11 million masks. We know that 8 million of them have been found not to be up to standard. These are those n-95 masks that we’ve all learned so much about since the beginning of this outbreak. They are supposed to keep out 95% of particles and are used in the health care system. We know this was a montreal-based producer who was getting these masks made overseas, I believe in china if I’m not mistaken. Problem with 8 million of the masks, a 1 of them work, some ofthem work, some still being tested as well. The Prime Minister said a few interesting things there. While they have not named the producer and the initial reportsabout this raised questions about what was going to happen here in terms of what would happen to the masks, what would happen to the payment that the government was supposed to be giving for these masks. We heard the Prime Minister say very clearly there we will not be burdened with masks that don’t work. Perhaps there could be some alternate use outside of the health care field, but notably that they weren’t going to pay for masks that were not up to standard. The question was specifically how much each of these masks cost. The Prime Minister didn’t engagewith that, but a bit of tough talk there without getting into real specifics, but essentially saying this is not okay. We are going to push back. What I thought was particularly interesting, though, was the moment where he said suspending is proof that our system works and so people understand when these pieces of personal protective equipment come from overseas, there is checking that’s done by the public healthagency of Canada to make sure that they are indeed up to standard. This situation, the problem withthese masks is not an isolated one. We have seen it around the world. Suspending is certainly proof that the checks are being done and that these masks are not given to health care workers, because you can imagine if they had gone into the health care system and they weren’t up to snuff, the results could be devastating, but it is not a victory either, certainly, to see 8 million masks no longer usable in the health care system. To put it in context, I believe the number of masks Canada has received from overseas, according to the government of Canada, is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 33 million, andof course there are efforts being made to ramp up domestic production. Everyone seems to agree that that is the key moving forward here, the new reality is going to involve a lot more masks and gloves, rosemary, and so Canada is going to need to be making more and more right here at home.
Rosemary:
and if you don’t have a reliable source when you’re outsourcing from a Montreal company, it sort of makes the argument, indeed, that the domestic supply chain has to ramp up and in a pretty dramaticway. Catherine, thank you for this. We’ll be back to you as we wait for the noon briefing from public health officials and cabinet ministers. Thank you, Catherine.
You’re welcome. ♪♪
Rosemary:
Putting on a performance outside one of Ontario’s hardest-hit long-term care homes, this is a local band. The bass player, though, is the man who pulled this performance together. His 93-year-old mom is a resident of eatonville care home, and we’ll talk to him after the break about this show of support and what he’s going to do tomorrow for mother’s day. That’s next on “cbc news network”. ♪♪♪
Rosemary:
That was a view outside eatonville, one of Ontario’s hardest-hit long-term care homes by the pandemic. The residents there treated lastweek to this parking lot show bya local band called turny blue and the distractions. The bass player is the man who put this performance together and his 93-year-old mom is a resident at eatonville care home. She had COVID-19, but she has now recovered. So we wanted to speak to the manbehind this lovely gesture as hegets ready to celebrate his mom, who you can see in pictures there. Michael swank joins me from koebs outside toronto. Good to see you, michael. Tell me first how is your mom. She was diagnosed with COVID-19. I know she’s 93. How’s she doing?
Yeah, well, you know, a couple of days ago I got a call and things didn’t look really good because she was really weak, and then yesterday I got another call, which was really interesting, and the wonderful nurse inside turns her iPad around and I see this woman who I recognize as My mom sitting there smiling and waving at me. I’m like, whoa, okay, what happened? I don’t get this, but I do get it. There’s been a lot of people pulling for her. If you want to use the word prayer and positive energy, there’s people all over the place sending good energy to My mom, and she seems to be doing really good at this point, so I AM just happy as can be.
Rosemary:
That’s great. What’s your mom’s name, Michael?
Lillian. Lillian may swance.
Rosemary:
Lovely. This is one of the long-term care centres that’s been very hard hit and the military is in there helping.
Yes, it is.
Rosemary:
What do you know about what kind of additional help they are being able to provide for the centre?
Okay, I did time in the military myself back in the ’70s, and I know that the guys that are in here right now are doing everything they possibly can to get this place spic and span and to the point where people can live in it comfortably. and everything that I see going on around here, it’s happening. I see the military folks are walking in and out of this place in scrubs and in camouflage all the time, and I’m really, really happy about it, to tell you the honest truth.
Rosemary:
That’s great. Michael, what was the last time you saw your mom in person?
Friday the 13th, March.
Rosemary:
That’s a long time.
Fateful day, Friday the 13th. But yeah, it’s – you know what, we’ve had some conversations on the phone, and we’ve done a couple of face time conversations, and we’re both pretty comfortable with the situation as it sits right now, so I don’t feel too bad about the way things are.
Rosemary:
But you’ve done a lot to show your support from outside, whether it be the band, which was great. I see you’ve got a heart up behind you there.
Interview:
Yeah, I put that up a couple of weeks ago.
Rosemary:
Has she responded to that? is she happy to see that show of support from outside?
Interview:
Yeah. Last week when we put this show on, with the blessings of mayor Tory and the wonderful people here at eatonville, bless them and thank them for it, we put it on and the nurses, they managed to get mom standing up by the window, and I saw the recognition, and she waved, and music between mom and I is a very, very important thing. That’s how we started our lives together, and it’s always been something major for us. So being 93, I need to say I go ta bit nervous, and with the COVID-19 thing hitting I got a little more nervous, and I can’tget in there and sit with her. I can’t talk to her, and I can’tplay My CDs or whatever, for her, and I figured the only way I could do this was to put this performance on, a, for her, b, for the people inside, and very much so, c, for the front-line workers. These people inside this building are simply freaking amazing. They put their lives on the lineon a daily basis. and we have to give as much as we can back to them, simple as that.
Rosemary:
Yeah, you sound like a lovely guy, supporting them, and also a pretty good sontoo. What’s it going to be like tomorrow when you’re not able to give her a hug and hang out with her for mother’s day?
I gave her My hug last Saturday. She knows it. She feels it. She acknowledged it yesterday. Not being able to be with her physically, it’s going to be tough, but you know what, My mom’s pretty tough too, and I’m sure she’s going to get through the day. I’m going to get through the day. It’s going to be a lot of people out here all lined up, watching and looking at their families and everybody waving. There was a family out here earlier, and I got to tell you, along with myself, I got to take my hat off to a lot of the people that show up here because the weather hasn’t been pleasant, and we have been putting up with a lot of stuff, but we do it because we love the folks inside.
Rosemary:
Well, that’s great.
Interview:
The ones that we care for, and for the ones that are actually taking care of the folks that we care for.
Rosemary:
Yeah. Michael, that’s great. I know that lots of people are living through this in the same way as you, and I’m sure you’ve inspired them for tomorrow, and happy mother’s day, Lillian, if you’re watching. Thank you so much, from etobicoke, Ontario. Take care of yourself, thank you.
Thanks, Rosie.
Rosemary:
We’re going to take short break here on CBC news network” as we stand by for the federal briefing from cabinet ministers and public health officials. We’ll be back in just a couple moments. ♪♪[♪♪♪]
Rosemary:
Hello, again. I AM rosemary Barton here in Ottawa. We are live streaming on the cbcapp and on CBC News. Ca. We are waiting to hear from federal cabinet ministers and public health officials for their update on the pandemic response. Focus is turning to containment during this new normal. Living with COVID-19 is the way Dr. Tam refers to it. Some provinces are easing lock down restrictions depending on where you live. There are concerns in the two hardest-hit parts of the country, including Ontario. The new data suggests maybe somepeople have not been following rules on physical distancing strictly because there has been a fair amount of community spread, and quÉbec as you know had ambitious plans to reopen stores and schools, particularlyin the montreal area, over some fears of another wave of infection. They have now delayed those plans, expecting to hear all about that in this briefing shortly. I’ll also tell you that on saturdays we generally get an update from the Minister of indigenous services, marc miller, about how the pandemic is affecting the indigenous communities. We do know that there’s been an outbreak in northern Saskatchewan as of late, even asthe province there starts to reopen slowly as well, there does seem to be a difficult outbreak. 12 of the 13 new cases in that province related to or have happened in laloche, Saskatchewan. We’ll hear more from the Minister about the approach towards indigenous communities as well. Let’s bring in My colleague catherine cullen as we wait for that update. We did get an update on indigenous statistics on Saturday’s briefing where Minister miller appears. Let’s go back to the issue around montreal. There was some startling information that came out yesterday and much of it has been published today around modelling and what will happen on the island of montreal if restrictions are eased in a realway. It’s quite alarming, actually.
Catherine:
Yes, it’s a study of the institute of public health in quÉbec. What it says is if this deconfinement plan is pursued, and right now Montreal, as you say, while it’s pushed back the date of reopening, they are looking at opening some elementary schools on may 25. If this is pursued, according to one of the models put forward by the institute, there could be as many as 150 deaths a day in the Montreal area by July, and that does not include, rosemary, the deaths in long-term care homes. We know in quÉbec and across theprovince that has accounted for the majority of the deaths. That is an alarming set of predictions. That particular prediction does not take into account the prospect of ramping up testing and contact tracing. We’ve been hearing from officials in quÉbec have been for days talking about the intent to ramp up testing in particular in that province. In fact, it was supposed to havebeen ramped up to a new height yesterday. It seems like that is a work in process, but that is one means of managing this. That raises the question broadlywhether quÉbec and montreal should be pursuing that plan if that is the prognosis. We heard the Prime Minister being asked about that during his briefing. He is the M.P. for Papineau, on the island of montreal. He said he’s concerned as the Prime Minister and as a canadian. He did get impassioned about talking about the prospect of reopening and an outbreak and then saying, look, we’ve got to go back inside and do this all again. He’s cautioning that people should be listening to scientists. Was that a suggestion that this particular report that is receiving a lot of attention in quÉbec be taken seriously? I imagine so. Regardless of the Prime Minister’s comments, you can be sure that the premier and publichealth officials in quÉbec are going to be facing questions about this.
Rosemary:
Yes, the premier and the chief public health officer, they have readjusted their reopening dates for Montreal. They had planned to reopen retail stores and schools and now pushed that back by a week, may 25. It’s hard to see how they even stay on that timeline, given the way the outbreak is progressing in long-term care homes and alsoin lower-income communities in montreal. I know the mayor of montreal hasexpressed some really serious concerns about the speed of which this is happening and the Prime Minister obviously in a difficult position politically to not interfere with what quÉbec’s decisions are but also needs to send a message that this isn’t going to work. I think for now quÉbec seems to be responding when they see the data, but the fact that they putanother timeline on the reopening of quÉbec seems to me questionable to say the least for the premier. and that’s fairly difficult for the federal government to navigate.
Catherine:
In this beginning of this crisis, the premier franÇois legault and Dr. Arruda really celebrated the way they were dealing with this crisis, despite the numbers were so bad. Part of the reason quÉbec found themselves in a more difficult situation is because their spring break is earlier than the rest of the country. People were returning from spring break and perhaps bringing COVID-19 back with them. Much of Canada and the world hadn’t woken up to what we were in the midst of. FranÇois legault very popular. You can see some of these decisions being reconsidered. There is a lack of clarity around the range of the issues. The premier is finding himself more heavily criticized. Questions – in particular there have been real questions about what happens to those in the age range of 60 to 69. If they’re teachers they shouldn’t maybe in the classroom. a lot of lack of clarity on issues like that as well as the broader questions of timeline. This is a challenging time facing quÉbec. Also questions about the interplay between what is happening in the hospital’s system and the hospital’s ability to respond to what is going on and the long-term care facilities because a lot of people who were in long-term care facilities were transferredto hospitals and recovered from COVID-19, but there was a fear of sending those people back to long-term care facilities. We’ve heard horrified stories from quÉbec and Ontario when facilities get overcrowded. There is facility where over 80 people have died in one facility. Some really troubling stories. There is a real effort underway to manage this. There is a mix of public opinionas well. There is a real sense that thereare mental health conditions at play and what is happening to kids when they are left in the home. That is part of the impetus of trying to restart elementary schools and giving children a safe place to be, the structure and education they might need. But it leads to a lot of difficult questions I think. Certainly people across the country are feeling that, but also acutely in quÉbec when parents are being asked to consider whether or not they want to send them back to school. There are only 15 students per class and they have to keep a 2-metre distance. They won’t be able to engage in recess and drama class. It’s going to be a different experience for children who are headed back.
Rosemary:
Outside of Montreal, the point I wanted to make, is quite a different picture in quÉbec. The virus has hit the island of Montreal in a particular way, but quÉbec had 900 new cases, whereas in Nova Scotia where they’re in double digits, they’re not reopening school until next year. Each approach makes sense, but good to ask questions about the speed of the severity. Catherine, I’ll leave you now. New Brunswick is moving to the second phase of their recovery program. Shaina luck joins us. Shaina, last time I checked there were some new cases.
Shaina:
New Brunswick is certainly in a very fortunate position and you can tell they are making the most of that. They’re reopening things like restaurants, shopping malls, artgalleries, museums, those will all be allowed to reopen as soon as today. Only they have to respect those physical distancing measures. So they may not reopen right away, although they are allowed to, but they will need some time to retrain their staff and move things around in the buildings, but certainly they’re in a fortunate place with only 118 new cases and no deaths in New Brunswick either.
Rosemary:
I think My briefing is about to start. I’ll ask you quickly after this phase what is next? will schools reopen? do we have a sense of what will reopen next?
Shaina:
Certainly for the rest of Atlantic Canada, they are taking slow and incremental steps, Nova Scotia not bringing their schools back. P.e. I. is expanding their household bubbles. Newfoundland looking to move to their next phase as early as Monday.
Rosemary:
Shaina luck in Halifax today. I appreciate it, Shaina. Let me take you back to Ottawa where federal ministers and public health officials are speaking. This is Marc miller getting the briefing underway.
[voice of interpreter] without further ado, let’s begin with the update in English by Dr. Tam followed by Dr. Njoo and then myself.
Hello, everyone. [end of translation] latest numbers of COVID-19 in Canada. There are now 66, 730 cases, including 4, 628 deaths. 30, 600, or 46%, have now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested over 1, 067, 000 people for COVID-19 to date, with about 6% of these testing positive. In the past week, we’ve tested on average 26, 000 people daily. Today I want to focus on the disproportionate impacts and severe outcomes of COVID-19 on our seniors. It’s hard to calculate the hardships endured and the grief that remains for those we’ve lost. Canada’s older adults are the keepers of our history, culture, and wisdom. Each loss is one too many, but the scale and impact on our seniors as a whole is nothing short of a national tragedy. Prevention and control of COVID-19 in high-risk populations is crucial for controlling this and future waves of COVID-19. These outbreaks drive up the case fatality rate, accelerate spread, and continue to grow in the community. It is the older adults who bear the brunt. An estimated 20% of COVID-19 in Canada are linked to long-term care homes. 80% of deaths are in seniors in these settings. a range of measures has been implemented in an effort to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes, however, many areas of the country are still strugglingto get ahead of the rapid and stealthy spread of the virus in these outbreaks. We know where there are weaknesses, whether they’re structural, social, or economic in nature, this virus will take advantage if we are willing to give what it takes to address these weaknesses in long-term care and assisted-living homes and without providing support to the workers in these settings, then we will stand at a better chance of beating the virus. If we make a priority to look after the most vulnerable in society, we can change the outcome of this pandemic and notlive in its shadow. Together we can go this. Thank you.
[voice of interpreter] thank you, Dr. Tam. Dr. Njoo.
Thank you. Hello. As usual, I will start with the latest numbers of COVID-19 in Canada. In Canada there are now 66, 744 confirmed cases, including 4, 028deaths and 6% now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested over 1, 067, 000 people for COVID-19 to date, with about 6% of these testing positive. In the past week we’ve tested on average over 26, 000 people daily. Today I want to focus on the disproportionate impacts and severe outcomes of COVID-19 on our seniors. It’s hard to calculate the hardships endured and the grief that remains for those that we’ve lost. Canada’s older adults are the keepers of our history, culture, and wisdom. Each loss is one too many, but the scale and impact on our seniors as a whole is nothing short of a national tragedy. Prevention and control of COVID-19 in high-risk populations is crucial for controlling this and future waves of COVID-19. These outbreaks drive up the case fatality rate, accelerate spread, and continue to spread into the community. But it is our older adults who bear the brunt. Though an estimated 20% of COVID-19 cases in Canada are linked to long-term care homes, over 80% of all deaths are amongseniors residing in these settings. a range of measures has been implemented in an effort to prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes. However, many areas of the country are still struggling to get ahead of the rapid and stealthy spread of the virus in these outbreaks. We know that where there are weaknesses, whether structural, social, or economic in nature, this virus will take advantage. If we are willing to give what it takes to address these weaknesses in long-term care home and assisted living homes and to provide better support topoorly compensated workers in these settings, we stand a better chance of maintaining control of the virus. We will be living with COVID-19 for some time. If we make it a priority to lookafter the most vulnerable in oursociety, we can change the outcome of this pandemic. and not live in its shadow. Together, we can do this. Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Njoo. [end of translation] good afternoon, Bonjour. The public health measures that we have been repeating from these seats and that you have heard so many times over have not lost their importance. They are just as important as on day one. As of May 8 we have seen 165 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on reserves in nunavik in northern quÉbec. I would like to ask everyone to remember that number as I continue with this update. This week we saw a rise in cases in remote communities in northern Saskatchewan. We are concerned with this and working with local leadership on the response. Some communities impacted around the laloche area include first nations reserves, but not only. This is why we have to keep collaborating with the government of Saskatchewan to make sure the medical staff can get what they need to deal with the outbreak. The onset of COVID-19 in indigenous communities may have been delayed by remoteness. We need to remain diligent and provide the resources to make sure people who are suffering from this in and around the laloche area are properly served. Across the country we continue to work in close collaboration with indigenous communities to secure the necessary resources to combat the spread of COVID-19, including the communities of clear water nation and English river nation and themetis nation of Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan all front line health services are delivered by first nations and tribal health councils with tribal oversight and inter-tribal health authority. We are monitoring the P.P.E. In this region. As of May 8, we have sent 129 P.P.E. Shipments to first nations communities in Saskatchewan, including 59 P.P.E. Shipments sent directly to the northern inter-tribal health agency. The metis nation has utilized resources through the fund with a focus on elderlies, support, and P.P.E. We are providing support such asnursing recruitment and health services coordination to 25 communities. Overall, there are 70 indigenousservices Canada nurses in Saskatchewan offering services to all 74 first nations communities in Saskatchewan. I would like to sincerely thank them for tirelessly working on the front line of this outbreak and putting their own safety at risk, but numbers don’t tell thewhole story. First nations, inuit, and metis communities have done an incredible job in responding andpreventing outbreaks. Their collective work in this iscritical and their commitment tosupport them in ensuring they have what they need and being able to continue to protect their community members remains steadfast. [voice of interpreter] to support indigenous leaders and our partners to effectively respond to the pandemic and to protect their foundations, we have a support fund for indigenous communities of $305 million in order to meet the immediate needs of first nations, inuit, and metis communities deal with COVID-19, although most of thesefunds have already been transferred to the communities, $50 million were also attributedto urban and off-reserve indigenous organizations. We also announced further measures in order to support themost vulnerable help deal with this difficult period. We have announced $10 million for the prevention of family violence shelters. and $306 million in funding to help small- and medium-sized indigenous businesses and to support indigenous financial institutions who are funding businesses. $75.2 million for first nations, Inuit, and met is students at thepost-secondary level for the year 2020-2021. $129.9 million to respond to immediate needs when it comes tohealth, the economy, and transportation in the north. We know that further help will be necessary and we are working actively to ensure that no indigenous community is left behind. [end of translation] as we are learning from past experience with responding to pandemics in Canada and specifically in firstnations, metis, and inuit communities during h1n1, they have a higher risk. We are doing better, more robust, and routinely collected disaggregated data. What My colleague says, you can’t mend what you don’t measure. To be frank, the data My department provides is limited by what is collected. Accurate data is only available for first nations living on reserve and for inuit living int inuit nunangat. If you look at the numbers in the far north of laloche, the number of positive cases is 170 positive plus. Above that, there are 16 on-reserve indigenous positive cases, but given that laloche isa metis-dene community of the overwhelming majority, the presumption then is that the entire 179 cases or so are indigenous and that’s a gap in the data, frankly. When indigenous leaders – and iwould add and pause to say when you put that in an urban contextsuch as montreal, toronto, vancouver, calgary, or winnipeg, that data is just not there. When indigenous leaders and organizations are calling for better data to be collected and disseminated to them, we need tomake sure they have that data. It needs to include data petitioner inuit outside inuit nunangat, citizens of the metis nation, or first nations people living off their reserves, and for this to be realized, we needhelp from provincial governmentsand public health agencies. This type of information is critical not only for indigenouscommunities, but many vulnerablegroups. We need to put forward tailored measures as well as to prevent outbreaks. Indigenous-led analysis of this information is necessary to advance culturally appropriate and science-based approaches both with on and off-reserve forfirst nations and inuit and metis communities. Indigenous services Canada is playing a key role in collaboration with first nations, metis, and inuit partners to support ongoing surveillance of COVID-19 positive cases for on-reserve cases. However, this data, as I mentioned, is not enough to provide us with an accurate overview of those living off reserve as well as in inuit and metis communities. This is why I’m pleased to speakto the work of Dr. Janet smiley at st. Michael’s hospital in toronto. She is working with many other partners to collect the data that will allow for better understanding and modelling of COVID-19 indigenous cases in Canada. As part of our efforts to provide better data-based distinctions, we are implementing a COVID-19 trackingand response platforms for firstnations, inuit, and metis. This will include the development of a COVID-19 consortium, compiled of first nations, metis, and inuit partners. In the short term, we hope that our work will help mitigate the adverse and disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on first nations, inuit, and metis. They are leading the way in gathering this data. I applaud them in this work. As I highlighted before on another topic, remote and fly-infirst nations communities are vulnerable during this time. The ongoing delivery of medical services and care at a time whentravel is limited is particularly travelling, but critical to Canada’s overall response to COVID-19. To minimize the risk and exposure of the virus to community members and service providers alike, we are transporting personnel on flights that adhere to strict health measures on airlines thatalready serve these communities. On April 22, 45 nursing professionals were flown to first nations communities in Manitoba and Ontario. On April 27, another 22 nursing professionals were flown to 13 first nations communities and 18left the communities on their return charter flights. These charters ensure that health care professionals and supplies and equipment maintain critical infrastructure, such aswater-treatment plants, that cansupply these communities. There is emergency management responses, food security, medevac services that are being implemented. This approach also provides a much-needed revenue stream to airlines in indigenous communities, helping to support their economic long-term and short-term viability. Nurses working in indigenous communities continue to demonstrate their selfless dedication to ensure the testing, care, and treatment. Once again, I want to thank the first nations, inuit, and metis nurses caring for patients, while working to provide and promote safe healthcare. [voice of interpreter] although the numbers across Canada remain positive overall, I reiterate that we must all follow the public health directives and advice, washing our hands and avoiding large gatherings and physical distancing. These measures are crucial. Our goal is to continue to work in partnership with first nations, inuit, and metis. and as provinces and territoriesand cities begin to discuss easing restrictions, we will continue to be extremely vigilant and defend the unique perspective and position in which inuit, first nations, and metis communities find themselves. I remain encouraged by measures taken by indigenous leaders across the country and I’m asking everyone to remain vigilant, while we all work together, so that everyone can be healthy and safe. Thank you. We will begin with questions now. [end of translation].
One question and one follow up.
Operator:
Thank you. The first question is from Michel lamas.
Question:
[voice of interpreter] first question for Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo. I would like to hear your comments on the situation that is persisting in long-term care homes. This morning you talked about a national tragedy no less. Are you perplexed by the fact that it remains so problematic in many of these long-term care homes in which – where authorities do not seem to have taken control of the situation whatsoever?
Answer:
Thank you for the question. This is Dr. Njoo. It certainly is a national tragedy across the whole country. Since we’re seeing in all provinces and territories that there are outbreaks currently inlong-term care homes. It’s also a problem in quÉbec. We know that there are challenges, even structural challenges. Sometimes in institutions there are two, three, four people per room, and it’s difficult to confine people who are ill and separate them from others who are not necessarily infected with the virus. But we know that health authorities on the ground are doing everything they can to test, identify, isolate, and treat people, perhaps sending patients to hospitals as required. I think this is a lesson for everyone to learn at all levels of government. and following this pandemic, perhaps we should have an inquiry to look at how we’re treating our seniors, how we’re supporting them. In other language, I’m not sure how to say it, but how we can dobetter in supporting these residences and long-term care homes. As Dr. Tam and I have said, evenfor the staff too. Because it’s not just about residences, but all of these workers who are doing work and doing their best under very difficult conditions. So we haven’t found all the solutions and answers yet. We’re looking at what’s going onnow. As we move through the situation, we are providing our best efforts and I think maybe we are beginning to see the light at the beginning of the tunnel. Thank you. [end of translation] what is happening in our long-term care homes across the country, as Dr. Tam and D have said, really is a national tragedy. Many of the issues are challenges in long-term care homes I think are evident. There’s even structural ones in terms of sometimes there’s two, three, four individuals in a room. It’s difficult to separate a cohort of sick people from the well people. There’s also challenges, as we all appreciate, in terms of the personnel who are doing their best, obviously working in thesefacilities that obviously, as weknow, have the supports they need, as we talked about, the pay, the fact that they sometimes have to work between several different facilities. So there’s lots that we need to learn from what’s happening. Certainly I think after all of this is done, even as our Minister has said, there needs to be a national conversation about how we treat our elders, house them, take care of them intheir later years. So that’s something that needs to be done. But certainly at the present time everyone is doing their best and I think we are startingto see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. As the Minister said, we need a national conversation. What the form is is not for me to say. It’s a conversation at differentlevels of government, I think also different sectors. I think it’s a conversation beyond public health. I’m sticking to the public health aspect. We certainly show from the epidemiology that those older individuals in long-term care homes are at greater risk of consequences, including death, if they do become infected with this virus. How that translates in terms of the conversations to many other sectors and levels of governmentneed to have and help manage andhopefully prevent and not have this type of situation occur, should there be another wave or future pandemic of the virus, yes, that needs to happen.
[voice of interpreter] follow-up question?
Question:
Perhaps a second question for Minister miller. Minister, I’d like to hear as a Montreal M.P., do you share the Prime Minister’s concerns, whichis what he said this morning, looking at the outbreaks in all of these communities in montreal. and as montreal considers reopening, should we be considering the health and safety of the most vulnerable populations? why not slow down in the greatermontreal region?
Answer:
Thank you, Michelle. Yes, absolutely, I AM an M.P. for downtown montreal. There are long-term care homes there. The army has been deployed. We have made super-human efforts, huge efforts, and askedmontrealers to make huge effortsas well to stay home so if we were – if we started loosening restrictions too soon, it could endanger certain populations. My parents are in montreal, in fact. My father will be 80 this year. He’s a very vulnerable person. My mother is 76, so this is of course personal but also scientific. We can see what’s going on in seniors’ residences. These are the most vulnerable populations. They’re there because they’re vulnerable in the first place and they want to live out the rest of their lives in dignity and they’re dying without dignity. We certainly have some long-termthinking to do after this pandemic is over. We’re still not out of the woodsyet. It’s going to require a bit moreeffort from Canadians to ensure that we’re not struck with a second and third wave. Those are My comments. [end of translation] I’m an M.P. from downtown montreal and that is where along with a number of other M.P.s that are in our caucus and our cabinet, the pandemic is hitting worst the people dying, as Dr. Tam said, they’re very old and been put into long-term care homes to spend the rest of their days in dignity. That will continue if there are measures that are relaxed too soon. That is the scientific conclusion. The army is working as best it can, people that are willing to put their lives at risk, that iswhy they joined the armed forces. They are doing something they are not used to do and they are doing it with exceptional professionalism. We need to let them do their work. We need to let the virus run itscourse with all the measures we’ve put in place. We’ve asked Canadians to do things they’re not used to doing. So to relax measures in a premature fashion would just raise another question about another wave or a third wave that would come hit us harder than it should if we were to continue along the lines and according to all the sacrifices we’ve asked people to make and all the hit it’s had on the economy. So the issue is to come out stronger and strong and not worrying about a second wave or additional shutdown measures. We’re asking people to be a little bit more patient. We’re not out of the woods. If you ask any of our top scientific minds, I think they would agree.
Thank you, Minister. Operator, next question.
Operator:
The next question from Theresa wright from the Canadian press. Please go ahead.
Question:
I have a question about masks. I’ll pose it to Dr. Tam, but perhaps, Minister miller, you could weigh in as it has to do with procurement. Earlier this week the Chinese embassy said that the 1 million n95 masks that were rejected by Canada last month was because of contractual issue. We haven’t heard clearly what happened there. Now there are 8 million that have been rejected. Can you say why Canada is rejecting these masks and whether we will purchase further supplies from these countries?
Answer:
It’s Theresa Tam here. From the perspective of the agency, we conduct the testing basically. So that’s where we found that a significant proportion of these masks did not meet our standards. Just to say that none of them have been distributed for medical use. That is our key responsibility. I know that the teams that are working on the contracts of course and the supplies are looking at this very carefully. I don’t personally know what the contractual issue is that someone has cited, but I think – our job is to make sure whatever goes out meets a certain standard. Of course when this much product does not meet standards, we have to go back and look at that arrangement.
I think that’s right, Theresa. What you’ve seen publicly is concerns over a number of issuesthat, among other, Minister an and has measured, which is in one case the straps are adequate, there are concerns over the quality of the filtration. When you’re trying to work in real time to prevent the onset of a pandemic, you make decisions quickly. When you realize you might not have a source quality that works, then you need to move on. We test vigorously. That is something people should be glad for rather than deploying them into the public health system and encountering other headaches. So recognizing that and that it’s possible. I would direct those questions directly to Minister anand. I don’t know the contractual terms between the parties and I can’t speak to that. But recognizing that what Dr. Tam said is we are testing and we are not deploying things that we believe are unsafe for the purposes they were purchased for and that’s an important conclusion.
Question:
Just on some of the comments that you mentioned in our opening remarks, Minister miller, about a gap in data that’s not allowing us to get a full picture of how COVID-19 is affecting indigenous populations. As you said in your remarks, a lot of this is because the data is held by provinces and territories. What measures can the federal government take to try to perhaps compel provinces and territories to provide this data? and how confident are you that they actually have the data and are capturing this data as the pandemic has been spreading?
Answer:
So that’s two separate and very important considerations, Theresa. First, if the provinces and territories have the data, that’s the easy part and it’s a question of really coordinating and because we are moving at the rate that we are moving, it’s a question of gathering that and collating it and comparing it and having our top scientific minds work on it and draw conclusions for really two purposes. The first purpose is, as everyone knows, we’ve put forward some very rough approaches to trying to contain the pandemic, asking people to isolate, clamping down, asking people to quarantine. That data is important across sectors and not just with respect to indigenous populations, but race-based data, ethno-cultural data that’sbeing collected. and it allows you in the short term to be able to take measuresthat are more targeted, whether you surround old-age homes if you have age-based data, certaincommunities that are vulnerable for whatever reasons, you can target your response as you try to address a pandemic before youget a vaccine. and the second measure, and it is an equally important measure in the long term, is you can’t do good public health policy without the data to underpin it. In order to do that, you need to have accurate data at the source. You can tease this together and a lot of scientific modelling has a lot of projections and assumptions in it, but it is always based on a core set of assumptions based on important data collection. So what we have is across the jurisdictions, all the provincesand territories that when they test someone have a different sheet with different sets of information. Now, assuming those sheets have disaggregated data identifiers to begin with, we need people onthe ground filling them Ont and collecting them as they try to prevent people from getting prevented. It’s a lot on frontline workers to ask them to do. The importance I’m trying to getout is we need that data to get real and accurate information tocommunities, get it out, so people know what the measures that can be taken to address COVID-19 and how it’s profiling and give accurate models. The other consideration, which is an important consideration ofindigenous communities is indigenous data layered onto that is a sub-concern dealing with private patient confidentiality. We have to respect – the worst thing that could happen is to create another set of stigmas that would fly around and peoplewould judge people for no particular reason. But that data is important to collect and we do have to be sensitive to first nations control over first nations data. The premise to that is we have to be collecting it in the firstplace. While indigenous services Canada, for its part, is able totease out the amount of people that are testing positive in communities on reserve or in thefar north, when it comes to particular population, which half the indigenous population of Canada is off reserve, mostlyin the main urban centres. That really is the responsibility of the testing protocols of the province and that data is either not collected or imperfect in its collection basis. That’s why we’ve teamed up with the folks at the university of toronto and st. Michael’s, to make sure we have a centre focalpoint with people who know what they’re doing so we can get a better sense of modelling. I will hide from no one the factthat on the ground the testing and the collection of that data right now is far from perfect.
Thank you, Minister. Operator, next question, please.
Operator:
The next question is from anther raj.
Question:
Hello? I’m hoping you can hear me. Okay. Great. My question is for Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo. I guess I’m going to try this again from yesterday. You’ve said that we need to testmore. Yesterday you said that you’re not hearing anything specific about the provinces and territories not having enough swabs or reagents. So what do we need to do to increase testing?
Answer:
So I think as I said yesterday, there’s a capacity –it’s the public health community, the chief medical officers feel that you have to test for the right reasons at the right place. So just upping the numbers isn’tnecessarily the approach, but all of them, let’s just say, are expanding their testing to include people with a whole range of symptoms. That’s one way of trying to widen the net to see if there’s any further cases in the community, for example. You will see that many jurisdictions are now doing quite a lot of – well, they’re essentially being very low threshold and testing high-risk settings. If it’s a long-term care facilities or a correctional facility, if you have an inklingthat anyone is sick, test them, but to rapidly do testing in all of those high-risk situations isa good strategy. The other thing is it depends onthe epidemiology. Epidemiology is changing in Canada and those numbers will goup and down as a result. Yesterday you may have seen in quÉbec in the area most affected, they are increasing the testing by mobilizing clinics to go into the hot spots. That is how they are increasing their numbers. Also, Ontario, for example, is doing a systematic testing of their long-term care facilities. So those are in alignment with where these outbreaks and cases are occurring, but also to widenthe net in the community setting. There’s also been the surveillance approaches and we will be examining more of these strategies as we move into the next phase with the chief medical officer of health, but also our public health laboratory networks. So the guidance, for example, inthe next phase is under discussion at the special advisory committee as to where else would you need to test more. But you can’t just indiscriminately test areas where there are no cases and where people have no symptoms. Otherwise you get again into these issues of test interpretation. But it is an area that we are very seized with in how we do expand into that. The other concept is surge capacity because there may be other waves and there may be waves into the future. We all have to prepare for it byupping the capacity itself. If you expend a lot of tests, reagents, swabs, right now in areas where it’s not needed, you’re then diminishing the capacity for when you actually need it. This is a complex discussion where we all agree with 60, 000, that’s a good capacity, but we’re not stopping our supplies, resources, et cetera, to even beyond that because you have to prepare for resurgences, et cetera. Each jurisdiction may have theirown reasons as to why they have – they’ve all set different targets and their abilities and their reasons for not yet reaching those targets, for example, is diverse, I wouldsay.
Doctor, maybe I can expand on what Dr. Tam has been saying. It’s important to clarify when we’ve been talking about this 60, 000 tests, that speaks to, from what I can understand, the laboratory capacity. The ability of the laboratories across the country to process the samples. But as we all know, there’s a lot of steps in between from getting the samples from the patients who need to be tested to getting to the laboratories so they can do the analysis. What we’re seeing in the city ofmontreal, it’s not just a question of having the laboratory capacity to analyze, but also having accessibility for the people who need to be tested to then get the samples taken as appropriate to be sent to the laboratory. In that regard we’re seeing in the city of Montreal good steps in terms of increasing accessibility with mobile sites, ET cetera, so the patients – it’s closer and easier for the people who need to be tested to get tested. That’s what we’re seeing on the ground that obviously is getting better and better. Thank you.
a follow up.
Question:
That’s closer to the answer I was looking for yesterday. I appreciate your explaining to us what we need to do to expand capacity in terms of who we should be testing. When you talk about accessibility, can you outline those reasons? Dr. Tam, you said there are manyreasons. Practically speaking, how could the provinces be testing more? what needs to be done to increase practically?
Answer:
So I think that depends on the jurisdiction itself. a lot of provinces that have had no cases, they’ve had no transmission, they’re in a very different situation than some of the larger provinces who do have cases and are still dealing with some community transmission. So it depends on where you’re talking about. It does have to be tailored to the individual setting. Some areas might actually have human resource issues. You need actually people to go out to test. So making sure you have the necessary trained people who can do the testing is one. Dr. Njoo has talked about accessibility. Maybe making those testing clinics closer to where people are. We talked about the deployment of certain more closer to patient care testing to the more remote communities. That’s another area where we can increase capacity as well so that people don’t have that turnaround time. In Saskatchewan, for example, that was a good sort of example of how they are now systematically looking at those communities where there have been cases in the north and that involved the deployment – which they now have access to – some of the point-of-care testing capacity. So there are a number of these, I guess, challenges that each jurisdiction has on the go from, as Dr. Njoo said, the moment thepatient needs to be tested all the way down to transportation and laboratory testing capabilities. a lot of the strategies are designed to tackle each one of these components, but it might quite well be different from downtown montreal to downtown toronto to Saskatchewan.
Thank you, doctor. We’ll now turn to the room.
Question:
[voice of interpreter] question from radio-Canada. I have a question for Minister miller and for Dr. Tam as well. Minister miller, you said about montreal, we’re not out of the woods. Perhaps we’re going too quickly. Could you specify what your concerns are for people and alsowhat it means for the future if we’re moving too quickly? and for Dr. Njoo and Dr. Tam, doyou share that concern and that of the quÉbec national institution of public health, that we have opened up too quickly and easing restrictions too quickly will lead to furtherdeaths and illness?
Answer:
I AM firstly afraid of more people dying and of moreoutbreaks.
Follow-up answer.
This is Dr. Njoo. We are continuing our discussions. We are in good communication with our quÉbec counterparts. Certainly in Montreal, the situation is more serious than the rest of quÉbec. It’s quite complex. In fact, currently we have a very difficult situation in long-term care homes, but it’s also related to what’s going on in the montreal hospitals because before, perhaps when seniors were quite ill, they were transferred for compassionate care in hospitals. But now what’s going on with theinstitutions and the outbreaks is that it’s not a good idea to transfer them or transfer them back to the long-term care homes. So they are sent to hospital. They’re in beds with not much flexibility and not much wiggle room in the hospitals’ capacity, especially expecting a second and third wave potentially. So we need to closely look at the montreal system and situation and do a lot of testing and tracing. Because if we start lifting public health restrictions, we have to be ready to adjust as wego along, as the situation evolves. I’m not there on the ground, buti can see what the other quÉbec public health authorities are doing. So maybe there is a schedule forall of quÉbec, but it may be different for montreal for stores and shops, for example, because the situation is different in montreal compared to the rest of the province. [end of translation] the situation in montreal is obviously a – everyone recognizes it’s serious and it is complex, for example, becauseof the situation that we know isa problem is the long-term care facilities. Perhaps several weeks ago obviously there were patients there, residents, who were sick or ill and transferred to hospitals in montreal. Now with the ongoing situation in those facilities, it’s not appropriate to be transferring those patients back. Now they’re taking up beds in the hospitals of montreal. There’s not excess capacity there or surge capacity in case there might be a second wave or another uptick in cases. That’s why the authorities in montreal are watching the situation carefully. It’s for sure important that youneed to have a good surveillanceand testing system. Should the measures of a slight relaxation of the health measures are taking place and there might be opening of schools or businesses, that you have to be ready to detect rapidly, deal with the situation, and maybe adjust as it goes along.
Question:
and this one is fordr. Tam and maybe Dr. Njoo as well, but, Dr. Tam, I would like to hear you first. If quÉbec is the hardest-hit areas and they maybe seem to be progressing quicker than other areas and testing is not up to par, do you feel montreal and quÉbec is following the federal guidelines for the confining andwhat would you suggest they do?
Answer:
Well, I think from all that the chief medical officers, we laid down the criteria for relaxing, if you like, the public health measures, which includes the testing, contact tracing, isolation, quarantine, ET cetera, and making sure there is capacity. All of this is being evaluated by the jurisdiction every day. They may or may not change the target date according to the situation. I think that’s what they’re trying to do every day. So there has to be flexibility and I think that is very clear to our colleagues that the Montreal area is different to other areas of quÉbec. They’re being cautious. So some of these measures are done outside of that area. They’ve moved these mobile clinics into certain hot spots to get more testing. So they are going to try to be very, very careful about this and they have to evaluate this probably on a daily basis in terms of what’s going to happen.
Question:
[indiscernible] –
Answer:
[voice of interpreter] no, we didn’t say that. I think that the quÉbec health authorities and not just of quÉbec, but of Montreal too are analyzing the situation as we go through it. There’s also a special advisory committee which is looking at all measures, even preventive measures at the provincial level, washing one’s hands often, maintaining a physical distancing of 2 metres minimum. These are all important measure sand remain so. I think in Montreal in public transportation, we have strongly recommended that people wear non-medical masks if they are going to use public transportation. The montreal health authorities have done that. They are taking our recommendations seriously, whileadapting them to their own context in montreal. [please stand by] those in long-term care facilities, are being by vast proportion heavily impacted by this. It’s a question as a human beingi think everyone is asking ourselves how we treat in some cases our grandparents and our elder segments of the population. That – what form that takes, without any question I think everyone’s going to be asking themselves that. I think there needs to be some serious look into the way that is done on an institutional basis. It’s probably premature to speculate as to what form that lesson takes. I think that is probably the smaller consideration to the bigger reflection we all need to have, is to how we finance, resource, help those people thatare the most vulnerable, in thiscase perhaps the greatest generation that – one of the reasons why we live in a free and democratic country. It is scary to see people fall like that. When you talk about indigenous communities in particular, you’re seeing some people that are last carriers of their language and you can see entire languages disappear. Those are particular vulnerabilities that I see in myfiles. I think tom sees them as well, and that risk is top of mind when you look at indigenous communities and Canada writ large. We need to be asking ourselves those serious questions and there needs to be serious discussions around financing, around funds, around support, around even how we ourselves treat some – our own grandparents. You know, some of the stories coming out of those long-term care facilities, you see people that are looking for refugee status that are helping out. You see people first-generation Canadians. You see people that are working for low-paying jobs. That’s another reflection I think we all need to have. But that needs to be institutionalized in a form thati think is secondary to the greater consideration, which is how we treat our elders. Dr. Tam, if you want to add?
Yeah, and again I’m not going to speculate the format that takes place, but it is really critical that, you know, in – out of all the impacts of this pandemic we’ve got to learn something in a huge way about how we treat, as individuals, society, communities, governments, on our older adult sand in particular those who reside in long-term care homes and assisted living, but there may be other areas where seniorsreside as well that needs to be improved. So I think it’s a big societal conversation. It’s probably not a single one. It’s going to be many different ones coming together because so many people are involved. So absolutely we’ve got to do better as a nation.
To be clear for the record, I’m not asking for a public inquiry. I’m basically reflecting when our health Minister, Minister hajdu, has said previously, the need to have coordination. The fact as Minister miller and Dr. Tam have said, the nature and form need to be determined, but we need to take care of what needs to be done now and afterwards upon reflection there are different ways we can have that type of conversation in different ways and do better. Thank you. [voice of interpreter]
Answer repeated in french?
Dr. Howard Njoo:
As I said, think that’s what’s currently happening with our seniors is a tragedy in our long-term care homes. As Minister hajdu already stated, we’re going to have to have a national conversation across the country at all levelsof government, and across all sectors to see how we can do better. [ end of interpretation ]
and just about mass, Dr. Tam, I’m hoping to find out what you’re hearing from your medical officers of health across the country about the supply of n-95masks, especially at long-term care homes, and this shipment, this most recent one of 8 million masks that were rejectedbecause they weren’t up to quality, what impact would that have had on long-term care homes?
I don’t have the specifics on impacts on long-term care homes. We do have daily linkages with all provinces and territories asto what their requirements are, and I do know that there’s sort of a distribution framework thatis at play, but I’m sure that any shipment that has been rejected will have some pressureon the health system in terms ofn-95 capacity, but I do know that all the requests for assistance that we’ve received ithink over 40, the majority of them have either been met or arein the process of being met. I don’t know the exact numbers. I’m actually very heartened to see some of the domestic supplies being one of the innovations in this space as well. I think some of them are going to be where we are looking at, but yes, I mean, every day, thisis one of the biggest I think challenges that we feel every single day. All the supplies being sort of utilized and then stuff coming out is a big sort of process in ensuring that jurisdictions havewhat they need. But so far, as far as I know, all the requests for assistance that we have received have been met.
Thank you, doctor. Ian?
Reporter:
Ian wood, CTV news. Dr. Tam, the pictures from Vancouver this week show packed beaches full of people again. That province has moved forward with some very gung-ho openings. Yet now in south korea, a country that’s been recognized as having this more under control, or getting it under control, is putting restrictionsback into place and locking certain businesses down. Do you foresee us having to do that as well?
Dr. Theresa Tam:
I think, as you know, the chief medical officers of British Columbia and everywhere else in Canada are being very cautious. Now the public having contributed greatly to our efforts must be reminded that we’re not going to be back to completely normal, to the pre-January of this year, and that if there are gatherings of that nature, of course it’s up to us to constantly remind people that that is not the public health advice. I think we – the advice is to go outdoors, but you can’t be –you’ve got to observe social distancing measures. So it is going to be difficult, I think, because people have heard these messages for a very long time, but we still got to sort of ensure that these habitsthat may have been instilled continues. So that is still gonna be a key part of the response. If there were any uptick in cases that may have loosened thepublic health measures may have to be sort of reinstated. We do not want that to actually happen, so I think everybody continues to have to listen to their provincial or local publichealth officers, because this isserious. The virus has not disappeared from the face of the earth. It’s still circulating in some parts of Canada, so it is something that is gonna have to be a sort of ongoing behaviouralshift, which is not an easy thing to do.
and Canadians now are still allowed to travel between cities, between provinces. How is that going to affect reopening? if one area reopens certain businesses, sectors, recreational facilities, and another doesn’t but people can still travel freely, is domestic travel not a risk to those areas that are reopening?
Dr. Theresa Tam:
So this is why you need the national linkages, because you have to share information to know where cases are, but that is true, that if there are outbreaks in certain areas, other parts of Canada is going to be looking at whether there’s any travel-related cases. and re-evaluate that. and so I think that is absolutely something that we have to watch for in the next phase. In terms of domestic transportation, transport Canada, for example, has instituted certain measures, including the wearing of masks. Some jurisdictions still have measures in place for anyone travelling outside of their provincial jurisdiction, so theyhave – particularly provinces that haven’t seen cases or haven’t seen transmission but also if they have a smaller health care system of service, they’re going to be protecting those areas, including people coming from other parts of Canada through domestic travel. So a number of jurisdictions still have that in place given their own epidemiologic situation. But that will, again, have to bereviewed as in the coming weeks and months. [voice of interpreter]
This brings this press conference to a close. Thank you. [ end of interpretation ]
Rosemary:
Okay, that is the end of the federal briefing on the pandemic in this country. Actually, a fair bit of information there today from public health officials and from minister miller. I will say that there were really almost pleas from Minister miller and Dr. Theresa tam around the ongoing tragedy happening in Canada’s long-term care centres. Just to give you a statistic that struck me, and we’ll bring in catherine cullen as well to talk about this, Dr. Tam made the point that 20% of overall cases in this country have happened in long-term care centres, but those cases accountfor now more than 80% of the deaths, in long-term care centres, which is just such a staggering number, and I’ve saidit before, but obviously it’s going to have to lead to some kind of change because that can’t continue now or any time in the future. Lots of – yeah, go ahead, catherine.
and those statistics, rosemary, I really think speak to the heart wrenching vulnerability of the people who live in health care homes, who are there in the first place because they need this support but because there are so very much in need of that help because their health is potentially fragile. They are particularly susceptible to the virus, and you know, even at the beginning of that, when Dr. Tam was talking about the statistics for the long-term care facilities, and we have been hearing earlierfrom the Prime Minister, we heard from the deputy Prime Minister about mother’s day. Very cute messages about, you know, making mom breakfast, cleaning the room. You just can’t help but think ofall of the people who are not going to have their mother tomorrow to celebrate mother’s day and that we are thinking of them as well. In terms of the reflection and the form that that is going to take, about what to do about long-term care facilities, very interesting moment there where Dr. Njoo said in french that perhaps a public inquiry could be needed, but when pressed on it in english said id needs ton a national conversation and nobody was willing to advance onwhat that national conversation should look like. Minister miller said speculatingon what form that would take is premature right now. As you say, the words from Dr. Tam in particular, talking about the fact that there needs to be a huge reflection about what we can do to better supportabout people, talk about not only the money but also the circumstances that people physically find themselves in. When Dr. Njoo raised this issue, he talked about two, three, fourpeople to a room. How do you separate and protect them, the workers as well, whether or not they are being adequately paid, may find themselves needing to work in numerous facilities. Obviously this is a situation wewant to resolve because of the current outbreak, but something that needs attention well beyondthis everyone agrees. The question is what does it look like and when does it happen.
Rosemary:
There was also some questions about the situation inmontreal which have become a real outlier in terms of the severity of the pandemic, and again, Minister miller, who is an mp for downtown Montreal, said that we cannot move – we cannot move forward too quickly. The science is showing us that that shouldn’t happen. So that, again, something to keep our eyes on. But before I let you go, I do also want to just talk about the indigenous data gap that Minister miller talked about, very frankly there, because it is – while there are 165 reported cases on reserve, that does not – Minister miller, very honest about the fact that that does not paint an accurate portrait of what indigenous peoples in this country are experiencing.
Yeah, quite a few issues today that really require some very sober reflection. He talked about – he said I’m not going to hide the fact that the data collection is far from perfect, and he also pointed to some of the challenges in trying to collect better data. I thought it was interesting to hear him talk about the importance of indigenous – controlled indigenous data, the concerns about further stigmatizing people and the work that needs to be done, but of course – and this is something we’re seeing certainly beyond indigenous communities but is perhaps particularly of concern given their vulnerability and a variety of other issues, but a broader collection – discussion, rather, about race-based data and how that canfeed into best understanding what is happening with this outbreak and thus best addressing it. He talked about new efforts thatare going to be made to better collect that data, but also thatthere are challenges. He acknowledged the challenges front-line workers are already facing and asking them to do more, but also spoke about the importance of having this information in order to be able to address this situation properly.
Rosemary:
Yeah, and just to give people a sense, that outbreak in northern Saskatchewan that I was talking about that they are watching very, very closely, there are 16on-reserve cases of COVID-19, but Minister miller saying there’s 170 in the community of la loche, and given the number of metis and dene and other groups in that community, it’s likely that most of those cases are also indigenous. So the number that they have, 165, is in no way accurate, and he certainly doesn’t think that either. All right, catherine cullen, thank you very much for all yourhelp through your coverage today. Appreciate it very much.
You’re welcome.
Rosemary:
and thanks to all of you as well for watching, both the Prime Minister and the federal briefing. They are taking the day off tomorrow, so so will I. Michael serapio continues our coverage on CBC news network” right now. Take care. ♪♪
Michael:
Hello, everyone.