All developments in the COVID-19 pandemic

Whether in Quebec or elsewhere on the planet, the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting our lives.

Here you will find all the news throughout the day related to this crisis affecting the population, governments and the economy.

LAST REVIEW

World

Case: 40 612 044
Death: 1,121,365

Canada

Case: 203,045, 95,216 in Quebec
Death: 9792, 6055 in Quebec

ALL THE NEWS FOR TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER 2020

15:48 | The Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal requisitioned to fight against the second wave

3:36 pm | 300,000 additional deaths in the United States during the pandemic

2:14 pm | No Halloween party for Justin Trudeau’s kids

13:35 | Red zone: no surprises in Joliette.

Restrictions related to the red zone will come into effect Thursday in the MRCs of Joliette and Autray in Lanaudière.

Citizens and traders suspected that these measures would soon be reached. A restaurateur in Joliette admitted to being relieved by this announcement. She found it difficult to receive customers from the red zone and prefers that everything be closed in order to resolve the situation more quickly.

Several customers went to restaurants to eat a meal for the last time before quite a while.

Some wonder how long this measure will take. Many believe it will last more than a month.

In the MRC de Joliette, there were outbreaks in a private seniors’ residence as well as in a school. There are also many cases of community transmission.

For the MRC d’Autray, public health wanted to be cautious. “We thought it was better to act now than to wait for a predictable increase,” said Dr. Richard Lessard, regional director of public health.

13:33 | Increase in cases at Trois-Rivières prison.

Pressure is mounting at the Trois-Rivières Detention Center as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb.

The tally is now at nine cases, three of them among inmates. In addition, 25 employees were withdrawn from the circuit.

This assessment could increase since several results are still awaiting analysis.

The situation quickly became complicated, because last Friday, the Ministry of Public Security had confirmed that an inmate and three correctional officers had contracted the virus at this time.

1:10 pm | Premier François Legault took stock of the crisis in Quebec. Read all you need to know.

1:05 pm | The Olympic Stadium, already used during the vaccination against the H1N1 virus in 2009, is the newly designated location for COVID-19 screening in East Montreal, but it is not very busy for its beginnings.

12h59 | Spain: the government is considering a curfew against the pandemic.

The Spanish government said it was ready on Tuesday to discuss with the opposition the imposition of a curfew to curb the rise in Covid-19 cases, a measure that the region of Madrid, hard hit by the pandemic.

It is an option that “we will analyze with Madrid and with the other regions” of the country, competent in public health, declared the Minister of Health Salvador Illa during a press conference.

France, Belgium, Slovenia and certain Italian regions have announced in recent days the implementation of night curfews in order to force the population to reduce its social activity and thus slow down the rate of contagions.

But in Spain, this decision is complicated to take from a legal point of view, public health falling under the authority of the regions.

12:03 am | Respiratory droplets, hand contact and clouds of viral particles (aerosols) in poorly ventilated enclosed spaces remain the preferred modes of transmission of the coronavirus.

11:20 am | Quebec deplores an increase of 877 cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths. Hospitalizations increase by 33.

9:35 am | Virus: Ireland and Wales reconfine, curfew extends.

Ireland and Wales this week become the first territories in Europe to reconfigure their populations in the hope of “celebrating Christmas properly”, and new screwdrivers come into force in Italy, Belgium and Slovenia.

The restrictions are tightening day by day in Europe in an attempt to curb the COVID-19 pandemic which has already killed 252,000 there and has infected 40 million people worldwide.

In Ireland, the entire population will be reconfigured from Wednesday at midnight and for six weeks, while schools will remain open.

“If we unite our efforts for the next six weeks, we will have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas properly,” said Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, announcing this measure on Monday.

Wales will be subject to a two-week lockdown from Friday, the hardest measure introduced in the United Kingdom since the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring.

From 6 p.m., the more than three million inhabitants of this British region will be called upon to “stay at home”, explained Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford, adding that the duration of this “firewall” is the last. shorter that can be introduced to be effective.

In Ireland as in Wales, non-essential businesses will have to close, a situation comparable to the confinement introduced in the United Kingdom from March 23 at the time of the first wave of the new coronavirus.

8:27 am | Some 60,000 people in several countries have received Chinese experimental vaccines against COVID-19 as part of four clinical trials, a senior government official said in Beijing on Tuesday, ensuring that no subject had experienced adverse effects.

8:19 am | COVID-19: scientists warn about the mistrust of populations with regard to a vaccine.

6:34 am | Virus: British researchers plan to infect volunteers.

British researchers plan to infect volunteers with the new coronavirus to advance research to find vaccines and treatments, they announced Tuesday, presenting their study as a world first.

The first step of the project, led by Imperial College London, is to explore the feasibility of exposing healthy 18 to 30-year-old volunteers without risk factors to SARS-CoV2.

This initial phase aims to determine how much of the virus is causing symptoms in a person, explains Imperial College on its website. It will then be a question of studying “how vaccines work in the body to stop or prevent COVID-19, look at potential treatments and study the immune response” of the body.

“Our number one priority is the safety of volunteers,” said Dr Chris Chiu, who leads this research at the Department of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, noting that his team has been carrying out such studies on respiratory viruses since. 10 years.

Volunteers will be infected “through the nose,” the virus’s “natural route”, said on BBC Radio 4 Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College, who is co-leading the study.

“The great thing about these volunteer studies is that we can watch each volunteer very carefully, not only during infection but also before infection and we can monitor what is happening at every stage, including before symptoms develop, ”he added.

6:30 am | Italy: Lombardy is preparing to institute a nighttime curfew.

Lombardy, the wealthy northern Italian region most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, is preparing to introduce a nighttime curfew on Thursday, a first since the end of confinement in early May in the peninsula, in order to stem the contagions.

The curfew must be in effect from 11 p.m. local to 5 a.m. local.

“I agree with the hypothesis of more restrictive measures in Lombardy. I spoke about it with the president (of the region Attilio) Fontana and the mayor (of Milan Giuseppe) Sala and we will work together in this direction in the coming hours ”, declared Monday evening the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza.

Italy has seen a sharp rise in new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, with more than 10,000 sick per day, and Lombardy is the most affected region, as it was at the start of the pandemic in February and March.

Economic lung of Italy with Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy recorded on Monday 1,687 new cases out of the 9,338 in Italy. Since the start of the pandemic, it has identified 128,456 cases (the whole of Italy 423,578), including 17,084 deaths (the whole of Italy 36,616), according to figures released Monday by the Ministry of Health.

6:28 am | Virus: Portuguese government backs off mandatory tracing.

The Portuguese government has announced that it is suspending the vote in Parliament which would have made it compulsory to download a tracking application to curb the COVID-19 epidemic and had caused an uproar in the country.

“On this measure, there were a lot of doubts and rejection, I asked the President of the National Assembly to remove this vote from the agenda,” Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Monday evening. an interview with the TVI television channel.

“It is good to have a more in-depth discussion so that all doubts are removed and the Portuguese continue to download the application, which is safe and respects anonymity,” added the head of the socialist executive.

The obligation to download this application called “Stay Away Covid” was to be put to a vote on Friday at the same time as the compulsory nature of wearing a mask in the street, which in turn is maintained.

“Stay Away Covid” helps prevent people who have recently crossed paths with someone who has tested positive for the new coronavirus. So far, it has been downloaded by around 2 million of Portugal’s 10 million inhabitants, a level insufficient for it to be effective, according to the government.

6:20 am | Virus, which virus? India has resumed work.

6:17 am | At Severo Ochoa University Hospital in Leganés, in the southwestern suburbs of Madrid, one of the most affected by the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, the intensive care unit is already fully filled and the caregivers fear they will experience the same “horror” again.

[EN 5 MINUTES] The virus can stay on surfaces for 28 days.

6:13 am | COVID-19: a “party” leads to the temporary closure of a high school in Trois-Rivières.