by: jesse feith, montreal gazette
employees working in a montreal long-term care centre last spring were regularly told to remove their masks in the weeks leading to a major
outbreak, a coroner’s inquiry heard wednesday morning.
“if you put a mask on, they would tell you to take it off,” one auxiliary nurse testified. “everyone was scared. they needed them to protect themselves and residents.”
the public coroner’s inquiry into last spring’s deaths in quebec’s seniors residences is focusing this week on what happened at montreal’s
. during the first wave alone, 120 residents and 105 employees became infected at the home. seventy-three residents died.
the nurse, whose name is covered by a publication ban, said employees were first told not to use the centre’s masks because of a shortage. but when some started bringing their own, they were still told to remove them.
the order continued until early april 2020, when public health directives changed and masks became mandatory. the nurse in question contracted the coronavirus around the same time and was then off work for three weeks. when he returned, in late april, 14 of 33 residents in his wing had died.
those in charge at the home have said they asked staff not to wear masks because they were trying to follow public health directives and it was still believed they could create a false sense of security. they also needed to save the few they had available for staff caring for residents in preventive isolation.