In the weeks before the death of Raphael Napa André, found dead in a chemical toilet in Montreal in January 2021, two Montreal shelters welcoming homeless Indigenous people experienced major outbreaks of COVID-19, which disrupted their services.
Warm stations were important places for transmission of COVID-19, reported the DD Mylène Drouin, regional director of public health for the Montreal region, who testified Wednesday at the coroner’s public inquiry into the circumstances of the death of the Innu, who died of hypothermia in 2021.
In the last three weeks of December 2020, the number of infected people among the homeless was so high that there was a shortage of places in the “red zone” set up at the former Royal Victoria Hospital.
In the days following the detection of a first case of COVID-19 at the La Porte Ouvert shelter, on December 10, 2020 – a resource frequented by Raphael Napa André – infections rapidly multiplied, underlined the DD Carole Morissette, medical consultant for the infectious disease prevention and control sector at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. On December 18, 11 of the shelter’s 20 employees were infected with the virus. The same day, a major water break occurred, which resulted in the transfer of the organization’s activities to the Chrome Hotel.
“On January 2, we were concerned because we had around a 70% positivity rate. So it was really a very, very big outbreak,” commented the DD Morissette.
Around January 13, 2021, the Regional Public Health Directorate (DRSP) issued a notice authorizing La Porte Ouverte to resume its activities provided that accommodation measures were increased. The authorities notably required that free-standing beds be used, rather than mattresses on the floor, and that partitions be installed in the dormitory, explained the DD Carole Morissette. However, she affirmed that the DRSP had not imposed specific hours on the center.
On Tuesday, the coordinator of the La Porte Ouvert center, John Tessier, maintained that it was to comply with DRSP directives that the center had to close its doors at 9 p.m., which forced the homeless, including Raphael Napa André, to leave the premises each evening.
At the same time, around the Christmas holiday of 2020, a significant outbreak of COVID-19 also occurred at the Projets Autochtones Québec (PAQ-2) shelter. As more than half of the staff were infected, the closure of the shelter had been considered, indicated the DD Morissette. However, she clarified that the DRSP was not requiring screening of all shelter users.
Disturbed habits
There were numerous ministerial directives for hospitals, CHSLDs and schools during the pandemic, but as they were not adapted to the environment of homelessness, the DRSP had to develop adapted procedures for this vulnerable population. “There were things that happened quickly,” said Mylène Drouin. She notably recalled that, when the curfew was decreed, discussions took place with the Police Department of the City of Montreal so that the police officers showed tolerance towards the homeless.
The pandemic has disrupted the habits of already fragile homeless people by making them lose their bearings, Jonathan Lebire, former coordinator of PAQ-2, reported on Tuesday. Some homeless people started using drugs, he said during his testimony.
The coroner’s public inquiry, which is taking place at the Longueuil courthouse, continues Thursday.