The campaign for snowbirds to self-isolate ramps up; council requests state of emergency extension

In recent days I have been in touch with the condominium representatives and managers of buildings in District 2 to ensure that they are warning snowbirds arriving via Florida and other destinations to go into self-isolation for 14 days.

The good news is that they are all taking this very seriously. Snowbirds are  returning home by automobile and air from Florida and they are at great risk of being infected with the Covid-19 virus. Any one of them could unknowingly be a super spreader and place others in danger. Most of the building reps have reported back to me to share their action plans.

Some buildings have gone about compiling lists of those who (have) or  are returning.  Mayor Mitchell Brownstein made a mass telephone call to every residence today on this subject. He was also interviewed on CJAD and in The Gazette. A full page message was published in The Suburban.

The city has now produced flyers and these are being posted in every building. I have included them on this blog. Citizens of Côte Saint-Luc understand how important this is. Council is meeting on a daily basis and communicating multiple times per day. Let’s all work on this together for a large outbreak in our community, with such a large percentage of senior citizens, would be devastating.

Council held a special meeting on March 20, streamed live on YouTube, at which time we adopted the following resolution. Here is the link to the file. Fast forward to the 6:15 mark.

RESOLUTION TO REQUEST THE AUTHORIZATION FROM THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SECURITY TO EXTEND THE STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED BY THE CITY OF CÔTE SAINT-LUC ON MARCH 17, 2020 DUE TO COVID-19

WHEREAS the World Health Organization declared a pandemic related to COVID-19 on March 11, 2020;

WHEREAS in conformity with sections 42, 44, 45 and 47 of the Civil Protection Act (C.Q.L.R., chapter S-2.3) (“Act”), a state of emergency was declared by the City of Côte Saint-Luc in its whole territory on March 17, 2020 by way of resolution number 200343;

WHEREAS by virtue of section 47 of the Act, the city or any person empowered to act on its behalf, upon the declaration of the state of emergency, may without delay and without formality, to protect human life, the health and physical integrity of its population by enforcing specific measures;

WHEREAS by virtue of section 43 of the Act, a state of emergency declared by a municipal council is effective for a period of five (5) days at the expiry of which it may be extended on the authorization of the Minister of Public Security, as many time as necessary, for a maximum period of five (5) days;

WHEREAS this pandemic constitutes an actual and imminent major disaster situation and immediate and continued action is required to protect human life, the health and physical integrity of the population of the City of Côte Saint-Luc given its particular demographic and population density;

WHEREAS as of the date hereof, four (4) cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the territory of Côte Saint-Luc related to events which risk dramatically spreading the disease to other members of its population and the number of cases of COVID-19 will only increase due to the City’s demographic situation and population density;

WHEREAS since the Côte Saint-Luc City Council declared a local state of emergency on March 17, 2020, its residents have complied with the measures contained therein which are consistent with the directives provided by Premier François Legault in decree 117-2020;

WHEREAS the City of Côte Saint-Luc has been in contact with all commercial establishments in its territory in order to urge them to follow the current measures provided by the state of emergency and the directives of Premier François Legault and they agreed in principle to comply with orders issued in relation to the declaration of state of emergency;

WHEREAS for the reasons cited above herein, it is essential that the state of emergency in Côte Saint-Luc be renewed and that more stringent, additional measures be imposed;

            It was

                        MOVED BY COUNCILLOR OREN SEBAG

                        SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR DAVID TORDJMAN

AND RESOLVED:

            “THAT in conformity with section 43 of the Act, the Côte Saint-Luc City Council (“Council”) requests the authorization of the Minister of Public Security to extend the state of emergency for an additional period of five (5) days;

            THAT in conformity with section 47 of the Act, Council further imposes the following measures:

• The closure of all non-essential commercial establishments, places of worship and-or religious institutions;

• Request that all essential commercial establishments to avoid the propagation of the virus by enforcing social distancing for its employees in addition to imposing strict hygiene measures;

            THAT Council request the help of the Direction de la Santé Publique to establish appropriate security measures in order to minimize the health risks for the entire population of Côte Saint-Luc, namely: 

• To take all necessary precautions to track, identify and test all citizens that have potentially been exposed to the virus in the last week;

• To prioritize Côte Saint-Luc citizens in testing centers due to an elevated risk of transmission and possible community transmission; and

• To provide the City of Côte Saint-Luc with drive-thru testing in strategic locations on its territory;

THAT, should the spread of the COVID-19 virus continue to propagate, the Côte Saint-Luc City Council requests the Provincial Government to consider drastic measures such as limiting access within the perimeter of the City of Côte Saint-Luc and ensure adherence by enforcing coercive measures;  

THAT the City Manager or the Director of Public Safety be hereby authorized to sign any document giving effect to the foregoing.”

ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY