Most COVID-19 cases at Jewish General Hospital so far linked to Caribbean travel, says doctor

A physician on the front line of treating patients with COVID-19 said the vast majority of positive cases he has seen to date are people who contracted the virus while travelling in the Caribbean and then transmitted it to others upon their return to Quebec.

"That is where the government was very appropriate in saying, 'If you have travelled outside Quebec, you have to isolate yourself, be in quarantine, because you are at risk,'" said Dr. Michel de Marchie, an intensive care physician at the Jewish General Hospital, one of four designated COVID-19 centres in Quebec.

De Marchie, who also consults in the Jewish General's emergency room, said he has seen positive COVID-19 cases from people who travelled to Iran and India. However, he said most of the patients had gone to the Caribbean.

He did not specify in which Caribbean countries people who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus had been travelling.

De Marchie said most of the patients who have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus are at home, in self-isolation.

Any patient who experiences respiratory distress is admitted or referred to the Jewish General, he said. A patient who requires oxygen could be admitted to the intensive care unit to monitor their respiratory condition more closely.

As of Thursday afternoon, eight patients were being treated at the hospital.

De Marchie confirmed that Mariette Tremblay, the first Quebecer to die of COVID-19, had been treated there. Tremblay was living in an old age home in Lavaltrie. She was infected by a visitor who had travelled overseas.

Quebec measures lauded

De Marchie does not think Quebec's situation will become as dire as that of Italy, which is under quarantine and where more than 3,400 people have died of causes related to the virus.

He said the province's swift action over the past week has made a difference.

"It was courageous, but it was necessary. Overall, I think it will have a major impact," said de Marchie, who spoke to CBC on Wednesday.

Daycares, schools and universities are closed. People are being encouraged to work from home. Large gatherings are restricted, and people over the age of 70 have been urged to stay inside.

On Thursday, Premier François Legault went one step further and asked people to avoid non-essential travel between regions in Quebec to limit the spread of the virus.

De Marchie said he believes all those measures will prevent Quebec from having to play a game of catch-up, like many other jurisdictions are now doing.

With the influx of people who were exposed to the virus during spring break, de Marchie said, it will likely be another week or two until the province is able to slow the rate of infection.

"At least we can breathe now. Although we see cases, it's at a pace we can control and not at a pace we have to run and make decisions that would be awful," said de Marchie, referring to Italy's situation, where doctors are making heartbreaking decisions about which patients receive critical care resources.

Jewish General well-prepared

De Marchie said he is working with a group of nine doctors in the intensive care unit and more than fifty nurses.

He praised the nurses, in particular, for handling the current situation with both poise and control.

Everyone who is treating COVID-19 patients is up to speed on how to gown, glove and mask themselves properly to avoid contaminating themselves or other areas of the hospital, he said.

"The hospital has done a superb job in preparing the staff to have those patients and to treat those patients," he said.

The Jewish General's 10th floor was specifically designed to handle a pandemic and has a total of 87 negative pressure rooms, some of which are located in the intensive care unit.

These rooms suck out air faster than clean air is being pumped in, so when the door is open, any viral particles that might be in the air don't get blown in the hallway or contaminate other patients, staff or equipment.