An infected patient visited the N.D.G. Public Library at 3755 Botrel St. on March 11 between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Coronavirus live updates: Quebecer with COVID-19 visited N.D.G. library last week
Good day. Below are updates with the latest coronavirus-related news from Thursday, March 19. Comments/questions? ariga@postmedia.com.
Top items:
- Infected patient visited N.D.G. Library
- Trudeau encourages Canadians to give blood
- Montreal ERs report lots of capacity
More below
Changing of the guard
Hello. I’m Andy Riga and I’m taking over from colleague Jason Magder. I’ll be here all afternoon.
Infected patient visited the N.D.G. Library
The public health department said an infected patient visited a city of Montreal library in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, at 3755 Botrel St., on March 11 between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Additional whereabouts about infected patients is posted on the Quebec Public Health website.
Trudeau encourages Canadians to give blood during the crisis
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians can help out by giving blood.
He also said Canadians can come home, and should come home and the government is working to do everything to help them get back.
He also said the governments are “fine-tuning” the measures on the border with the United States. They should be in place overnight Friday into Saturday.
As for Canadians who are having financial problems, he said the government would help. Trudeau unveiled a host of measures in a news conference on Wednesday.
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts offers its educational platform to elementary and high school students
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is reminding parents struggling to keep children entertained during the current crisis.
Quebec prepared-meal company to offer four weeks of meals to doctors and nurses
Montreal-based WeCook meals says it will offer four weeks of free meals to healthcare workers. The company says the first 300 healthcare workers who sign up will receive the meal kits. Here’s what the company posted about its “Guardian Angel” program.
Virus means lower prices for gas, groceries: analyst
A food expert says there is a bright spot to the coronavirus pandemic: lower prices for groceries and gas.
Syvain Charlebois says an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia is resulting in lower prices at the pump across the globe. He added that Canada’s supply chain is robust, so there is no risk that stores will run out of produce or supplies.
Weak demand is also already resulting in lower prices for food items in grocery stores. The lower price of gas could also result in cheaper delivery costs, which could reduce the costs of goods around the world. It’s not all good news: in Canada, the lower oil prices will mean a lower Canadian dollar, which will increase the cost of exports.
Montreal ERs report lots of capacity
Colleague Aaron Derfel is reporting that the city’s emergency rooms are operating with far fewer patients than usual.
On Thursday morning, the Lakeshore General Hospital was reporting an ER occupancy rate of 65 per cent, compared with rates routinely soaring above 200 per cent in January. It was the same story at the Jewish General Hospital, which reported that it was filled to less than 50 per cent of its capacity.
Quebec’s top doctor has been dealing with crises for more than 20 years
The Montreal Gazette’s Phil Authier wrote a piece about Horacio Arruda, the director of public health. Named to the post in 2012, Arruda has dealt with the Lac Mégantic tragedy and the H1N1 virus in the past.
Read the full piece here.
At least 77 Canadians aboard cruise ship with dozens of coronavirus cases
Canadian Press is reporting there are 77 Canadians on board the Costa Luminosa cruise ship, which is headed to the south of France. The transatlantic cruise apparently has dozens of people who were infected with the virus. It was permitted to stop in Spain to let off three passengers who needed to be hospitalized. It’s now heading for Marseille, where it is unclear whether it will be allowed to dock, because of France’s strict measures to combat the virus.
Premier François Legault’s latest infographic
The premier tweeted an infographic Thursday reminding people of the measures they should take to limit the spread of the coronavirus. There’s a new element in it today: don’t hoard masks.
What’s open and closed in Montreal
We are constantly updating our list of what is open, and mostly what is closed, in Montreal.
Nightly newsletter
Sign up for our new email newsletter dedicated to local coronavirus coverage here: https://montrealgazette.com/coronavirusnews
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