The COVID-19 pandemic and the health measures brought in to limit it caused widespread collateral impacts that disproportionately harmed the most vulnerable, Montreal’s public health director said Tuesday. Mylène Drouin presented a report on the city’s COVID-19 management that includes 11 recommendations to help it respond to future health crises more efficiently and equitably.
One of her key recommendations is to develop a surveillance system to monitor the collateral impacts of health measures and find ways to reduce them, especially on the most vulnerable. “We’re not all equal when faced with health emergencies,” she told reporters via video conference.
“People’s exposure to risk is different, their capacity to put in place protective measures, and their capacity to recover is determined by their vulnerability,” she added. Drouin said of all the regions in Quebec, Montreal felt the greatest impact from COVID-19, both in terms of deaths and in the imposition of strict health measures.