‘I am despaired by what is going on’ Gauthier
Written by Paul Graif on 10 April 2020
Kateri Memorial Hospital Center Dr. Annick Gauthier wasn’t mincing words in her daily update to Kahnawakero’non.
“Today I want to show you my frustration,” said Gauthier in her 4 p.m. address as part of the Kahnawake 911 task force daily briefing. “I am despaired by what is going on.”
Gauthier is urging the community to continue following strict social distancing protocols into the long weekend. This after recent numbers released yesterday by the Monteregie health authority, inidcating 12 positive cases in Kahnawake, have caused some to question the need for strict distancing measures.
Gauthier says a more accurate measure of the pandemic is to look at the number of hospitalizations and deaths, instead of the number of cases.
In a best-case scenario, more than twelve hundred people in Quebec will die from COVID-19 by the end of this month, according to modelling released by the province’s public health agency earlier this week. To date, 241 people have died in the province. A worst-case scenario puts that number closer to nine thousand.
Commissioner of Public Safety, Lloyd Phillips said he wants to see that number at zero for Kahnawake.
“The next two weeks will be critical.” said Phillips in the Friday afternoon address. “I know it’s frustrating, I know a lot of people are mentioning things on Facebook and asking ‘when is this going to end?’ but we’re at crunch time now.”
