The outbreak of COVID-19 that has shaken Montreal since mid-December represents a very concrete risk of a breakdown in service, recognized Tuesday the fire chief of the metropolis, responsible for emergency measures.
Posted at 11:39 a.m.
“For the first time, the number of cases, the rapid spread and the tightening of the rules of isolation bring a real threat to critical operations”, indicates the presentation made by Richard Liebmann before the city council, a month after the return of the ’emergency state.
“We had a risk for the continuity of operations of essential services […] like the police department, the fire department, the water department and, as it is winter, snow removal,” he added orally.
The City of Montreal had to buy its own rapid tests and enter into a contract with a private health firm in order to be able to test its employees itself, without relying on the health network.
Mr. Liebmann said he was “very happy to announce that for the moment, we have not had any breakdown of essential services”.
Valérie Plante thanked Mr. Liebmann and his teams for their work. It is “an exceptional context,” said the mayor. “It’s as a team that we will manage to get through this wave. »
On Tuesday morning, the head of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, Sylvain Caron, told 98.5 FM that approximately 240 of his police officers are currently off work due to COVID-19, whether they are infected or isolated. He added that the situation was much worse during the holiday season.