While the government is limiting access to N95 masks in its ministries, schools and daycare services, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) has just purchased 28,000 for its staff.
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According to information published in the Government of Quebec’s electronic tendering system, an order costing $42,500 was placed on January 21 with the Ontario company Medline Canada.
The contract was awarded over the counter, due to the current context of the spread of the Omicron variant, an “emergency situation where the safety of persons or property is in question”, we can read.
Questioned by our Parliamentary Office, the SAAQ confirmed that it had obtained 28,000 N95 masks, the minimum quantity required by the supplier for an order.
Plan B
“The order for these masks was made out of benevolence for two job groups, namely highway controllers and driving assessors,” explained SAAQ spokesperson Mario Vaillancourt.
The last I heard, the masks had not yet been distributed, but the state corporation says it is “ready to do so if recommended by Public Health”.
“If their use is not required, all these masks will be returned to the health network,” said the publicist.
Experts divided
Remember that like his predecessor, Horacio Arruda, the acting national director of public health, Luc Boileau, judges that procedural masks are as effective as N95s, especially in a school context.
This position is based, among other things, on an opinion to this effect from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec published in mid-January. This opinion differs from that hammered home by several experts, including the chief scientist of Quebec, who recently told the Sun that access to the N95 mask should be expanded due to its superior filtration capacity against the COVID-19 virus.
In schools, wearing the N95 mask is essentially reserved for staff working in specialized classes, where respecting physical distance is more difficult. However, some school service centers allow teachers to wear an N95 type mask if they wish.
— With the collaboration of Pascal Dugas Bourdon, QMI Agency
Reference-www.journaldequebec.com