The coroner leading an investigation into COVID-19 deaths in Quebec long-term care homes says she is concerned that the facilities were not prepared for the first wave of the pandemic.
Géhane Kamel made the comments Monday when Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, testified for a second day before the investigation.
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Kamel says earlier testimony in the investigation indicated that authorities were aware of the risks to long-term care residents, but took less precautions to protect those facilities compared to what they did to prepare hospitals.
Almost 4,000 people died in long-term care homes in the first months of the pandemic.
Arruda says a planning guide was sent to long-term care homes on March 12, 2020, but adds that Quebec’s focus was preparing hospitals, building on the experience in Italy, where hospitals had been overwhelmed.
However, he says the lack of personal protective equipment and personnel in long-term care homes raises questions about the organization of Quebec’s long-term care system.
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On Thursday, Arruda testified that he did not recall whether he had issued a formal recommendation against long-term care staff working at multiple facilities, a practice that has been linked to the spread of COVID-19.
On Monday, Arruda confirmed that he had not submitted such a recommendation.
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