“We are listening.” This is the justification given Friday by Quebec to explain its about-face in the statistics file on COVID-19, which will finally continue to be published daily. It was actually enough for the government to listen: the concert of critics was unanimous.
“Since the start of the pandemic, our government has always been transparent,” wrote the new Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, in a short message announcing the change of position. We will continue to be. ”
We are listening: from Monday, the publication of daily reports on the evolution of # COVID19 will resume. Since the start of the pandemic, our government has always been transparent. We will continue to be.
— Christian Dubé (@cdube_sante) June 26, 2020
The lack of transparency was precisely what many criticized the decision announced Wednesday to no longer make a single weekly assessment of the evolution of COVID (cases, deaths, hospitalizations, etc.).
The national director of public health, Horacio Arruda, had argued Thursday that it was not a “decision to hide anything”, and that it would “have more stable data”. “It’s not because we don’t publish them [les données] that we don’t look at them ”.
On Friday, he said he had “no problem going back.” According to him, it is a “joint” decision of “governance” between Quebec and public health. “I will not persist […]. People have reacted, probably more than I thought, but there is no problem, the figures will be there. ”
And all the better, reacted several researchers and speakers. “They did a good job of back pedaling,” says Louise Potvin, director of the Institute for Research in Public Health at the University of Montreal. When you’re sick, you want to see your doctor every day. ”
Dr Quoc Dinh Nguyen, who heads the committee of experts mandated by Quebec to deal with the crisis in the CHSLDs, also welcomed the change of course of the government. “I think the data [quotidiennes], that’s useful, he said. It can help make good decisions, not just in government. “
Epidemiologist Benoît Masse (University of Montreal) said earlier in the day that publishing data once a week would be “the opposite of the concern for transparency and public interest”.
“As a researcher, I [serais retrouvé] in the dark for seven days. I [n’aurais] so more [été] able to adjust projections and trends on a daily basis. We are approaching a critical period where the effects of deconfinement could appear from mid-July: if there is a period where [il faut] having daily data is just that. ”
Caroline Quach-Thanh, microbiologist-infectiologist at the Center hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, had also denounced the initial decision, “especially in a context where we are in the process of deconfining very widely”.
“In an era of open data, it is expected that the data collected will be published in real time and publicly,” she thinks. Close access to data between two waves of COVID-19, [c’était] irresponsible. »
She said she had a concrete need for access to this data: it is used in particular to determine whether young patients hospitalized for a prolonged period can benefit from temporary leave at home with their families.
A mistake, says Anglade
On the political front, the Liberal leader, Dominique Anglade, pointed out broadly that Minister Dubé had made “a mistake. He corrects it. He backed down. ” She asked the Caquist government to put “a lot of emphasis on transparency and preparation” by the time the coronavirus makes a new offensive.
Anglade said it was “unacceptable” to switch to weekly data – especially since it was the first “major decision” made under the leadership of Minister Dubé. “People have the right to know what is happening daily, so let’s see!”, She argued before the announcement of the turnaround.
According to PQ Joël Arseneau, the publication “day-to-day figures help keep the spirit of the pandemic present”. “The virus is still there,” he said. The “ill-advised” decision to hide from Quebec data on the situation of COVID-19 in Quebec, “information that all Canadians have the right to”, contravened the “most basic” principles of transparency. “And the argument was not tenable,” he said.
For its part, Québec solidaire asked Friday noon that “the population [soit] immediately notified if an epidemiological change shows that the situation is deteriorating and that contamination and deaths are starting to rise again. ”
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