COVID-19 cases continue to climb in the Lower Saint Lawrence region

Public health officials in the Lower Saint Lawrence say recent house parties are to blame for dozens of new cases of COVID-19 in the region.

About 100 post-secondary students attended a house party in La Pocatière on Aug. 30. More than 20 positive cases were linked to the party as well as new cases of community spread brought on when party attendees then went to local bars and visited their families. 

The rise in cases has forced changes at some schools and medical facilities in the region.

Public health had the spread of the virus largely under control throughout the summer, but the parties at the start of the school term have caused the number of new cases to spike.

During the first week of September, the region saw a bump of 59 cases over a three-day period.

Regional public health director Sylvain Leduc says his department has been working with post-secondary institutions since before the start of the school year, but stomping out private events is a challenge. 

"It's difficult to dissuade private initiatives, unfortunately," he said.

Some schools forced online

Several post-secondary institutions have moved to online classes for the next couple weeks, as a result of the outbreaks.

Leduc said infected students at Cégep de la Pocatière and Institut de technologie agro-alimentaire have led to secondary infections and community spread. 

The director of the Cégep de la Pocatière, Marie Claude Deschênes, told Radio-Canada there are strict prevention measures in place on campus, and said she's disappointed students chose to host a private party, which is impacting the region. 

Classes at the Agri-food Institute and Cégep de la Pocatière will be online for the next two weeks as a result, and classes at Cégep de Rimouski and Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup will be online until Sept. 21 as a preventative measure.

Following the increase in cases, the regional health authority has suspended non-urgent surgeries scheduled for Monday at Notre-Dame-de-Fatima de La Pocatière hospital.

This is being done in order to coordinate a large-scale testing operation as well as devoting resources to contact tracing.

More than 225 people in the Lower Saint Lawrence have called — and 150 have left messages — to make an appointment to get tested.