Quebec entered the global race for personal protective equipment more than a month late, reveals a troubling report from the Auditor General tabled Wednesday. As a result, the state overpaid almost a billion dollars.
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The document establishes a timeline that raises many questions about the management of PPE (masks, gloves, gowns, etc.) when COVID-19 was claiming its first victims on the planet.
On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern”.
However, it was not until March 22, eight days after the declaration of a state of health emergency in Quebec, that Quebec began the massive purchase of PPE.
Moreover, the first inventory of PPE was only made on March 6, despite warnings from the WHO and the catastrophic situation in Italian hospitals.
Red flags
Yet there were many warning signs. On January 25, the WHO had warned that “the effectiveness of PPE is highly dependent on an adequate and regular supply”.
Four days later, Ministry of Health authorities were advised that “mask supplies should cover [les] regular needs for the next two years.
On February 5, several establishments indicated to the ministry that they had supply problems concerning several PPE.
Eventually, on February 7, the WHO warned global authorities that demand for PPE was 100 times higher than usual.
Quebec had no reserves
More worryingly, Quebec had no stockpile of PPE, as was revealed at the start of the pandemic.
Such an emergency reserve had existed since 2006 and had also been used during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. Then, in 2010, the Ministry of Health sold this emergency bank.
“The documents we consulted do not specify the reasons for this decision. No other measure was then put in place to compensate for the elimination of this reserve,” notes the auditor in her report.
For example, agreements could have been concluded with suppliers to ensure supply in the event of a crisis.
Paid at full price
As a result, Quebec found itself paying a high price for its personal protective equipment once panic set in on world markets.
At that time, some countries were willing to pay to divert supplies destined for Quebec.
Between 1er January 2020 and June 30, 2021, Quebec paid $3 billion for this equipment.
The auditor estimates that the decline in value that followed this outbreak at the start of the pandemic resulted in a financial loss of $938 million as of March 31.
Reference-www.journaldequebec.com