boroughs of montreal during the covid-19 pandemic boroughs of montreal during the covid-19 pandemic the boroughs of montreal, like the rest of canada and the world, have been individually impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. ahuntsic-cartierville on march 25, tva nouvelles reported on march 25, 2020, that five people in the notre-dame-de-la-merci chsld had tested positive for covid-19. on april 1 there were 70 cases of covid-19 in ahuntsic-cartierville health establishments, in addition to the 29 cases and seven deaths at the notre-dame-de-la-merci chsld. that day, the laurendeau chsld reported 10 cases; sacré-coeur hospital reported 31 cases, and fleury hospital reported one case. four days later, 15 people died in two chslds in ahuntsic-cartierville; ninety-nine residents and 94 staff members had been infected. on april 14, six percent of cases in greater montreal were in the borough. the laurendeau chsld reported 142 positive cases and 21 deaths the following day, an increase of 81 cases in three days. on april 28, ahuntsic-cartierville mp mélanie joly said that she would donate part of her annual salary increase to two borough food banks. on may 19, ccm hockey donated 100,000 surgical masks to the nord-de-l'ile-de-montréal ciusss (integrated university health and social services centre). forty-nine residents of the notre-dame-de-la-merci chsld died between mid-may and june 11, bringing the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 90; at the time, it was the largest number of deaths in a chsld. on june 12, the management of concerts ahuntsic en fugue announced that the seventh series, scheduled for august, would be postponed to 2021. restrooms in the borough's public parks began reopening on june 26. anjou on march 13, at the request of the city, local soccer club fc anjou suspended its season until further notice. beginning on march 19, municipal council meetings were closed to limit the spread of the virus; of montreal's 19 boroughs, anjou was the only one which did not stream its meeting online or take questions from the public. the borough may have been particularly at risk due to its demographics: 9,995 angevins were over age 65; 5,240 were over 75 7,100 lived alone 33 percent of families had a single parent the average total pretax income of residents age 15 and over was lower than the montreal average. immigrants and non-permanent residents were 33 and 10 percent of the population, respectively. the borough set aside an emergency fund of $100,000 to donate to local community organizations, and another $50,000 for centre-aide. on april 5, a costco spokesperson in anjou announced that three employees had tested positive for covid-19. by may 5, only 12 shops were open at les halles d'anjou market; over 40 merchants were normally present daily. on may 8, a free frozen-food delivery service became available to anjou residents who were affected by the pandemic. baie-d'urfé on march 21, the town of baie-d'urfé established a committee to deal with covid-19. the day before, parks and playgrounds had been closed. at the beginning of april, volunteers began handing out masks at grocery stores. on may 21, eight employees of the première moisson plant in baie-d'urfé tested positive for covid-19. côte-des-neiges–notre-dame-de-grâce jewish general hospital, one of four hospitals initially designated by the quebec government to care for covid-19 patients, treated two of the 17 quebecers who had tested positive for covid-19 by march 13, 2020. on march 14, sainte-justine university hospital centre announced that a child who had returned from europe tested positive for covid-19; it was the first case found in a minor in quebec. five days later, an employee tested positive. two days later, a student at collège jean-de-brébeuf also tested positive. on march 30, the montreal regional department of public health published the number of confirmed cases by borough. of 1,612 confirmed cases in the region, 161 were in côte-des-neiges–notre-dame-de-grâce. on april 7, the alfred-desrochers chsld was announced as severely affected by the virus; nine residents had died, and 39 had tested positive. that day, longtime resident marguerite lescop died of covid-19 at age 104. that day, montreal's notre dame des neiges cemetery – canada's largest – stopped performing burials and cremations. on april 23, a truck broadcasting public service announcements in french, english, vietnamese, tagalog, yiddish, spanish, creole, arabic, russian, mandarin, tamil, hindi, wolof, farsi, and urdu began driving around the borough. by april 27, 1,097 of the 12,034 montrealers who had tested positive for covid-19 (nine percent) were from the borough. on may 12, a group of residents asked the city to provide more resources such as mobile screening clinics and masks. côte saint-luc on march 20, 2020, public-health authorities announced that individuals diagnosed with covid-19 had been in public places in montreal during the preceding week; locations included the montreal metro between the angrignon and mcgill station; the 106 bus between newman boulevard and the angrignon station; the notre-dame-de-grâce library; a westbound 24 bus on sherbrooke street between notre-dame hospital and the fine arts museum, and the aunja restaurant. according to côte saint-luc mayor mitchell brownstein, the individuals were among city residents who tested positive for covid-19. brownstein said that this made côte saint-luc the worst-affected municipality per capita in quebec. that day, the head of the emergency department at maisonneuve-rosemont hospital was diagnosed with covid-19. a drive-through testing site opened in côte saint-luc on march 29. there were more than 50 cases in the area at the time and, by the end of the month, côte saint-luc had the province's highest covid-19 rate with 107 cases. on april 2, the iga supermarket in quartier cavendish announced its closure due to the pandemic; two days later, an employee tested positive for the virus. the drive-through testing site closed on april 16, as a new site was opened at jewish general hospital. masks became mandatory in public areas of côte saint-luc on july 1, making it the first jurisdiction in canada with a mask mandate. dollard-des-ormeaux celebration of the 60th anniversary of the city of dollard-des-ormeaux was suspended due to the pandemic. from april 22 to may 8, 2020, 40 residents of the vigi dollard-des-ormeaux chsld died due to covid-19 and a staff shortage. according to a doctor, 70 percent of the nursing home's 160 residents tested positive for the virus. dorval quebec confirmed its first case on february 28: a 41-year-old woman who landed at montréal–trudeau international airport (in dorval) on a flight from doha, qatar on february 24. she was transferred to jewish general hospital on march 3, and was released on march 4. a few days later, le journal de montréal reported that a person with covid-19 had used the airport's shuttle service. dorval announced the closure of some municipal buildings until further notice on march 13. on march 29, dorval's chsld herron was taken over by the government. it was reported on april 11 that at least five residents of the nursing home had died from covid-19 in the previous month, part of a larger pattern of neglect discovered at the facility. billionaire michael rosenberg was sent to intensive care, where he was intubated and sedated. he had participated in a wedding on march 16 at the crowne plaza hotel in montreal. dorval canceled its major events until at least july 1 on may 25, including celebrations of saint-jean-baptiste day and canada day. hampstead at the beginning of the pandemic, hampstead mayor william steinberg downplayed covid-19. despite this, the april 6 municipal council meeting was held online. at that time, the median rate for montreal was 36 cases for every 100,000 people. the infection rate reached 150–200 per 100,000 in neighbourhoods such as hampstead, leading to additional health measures. although tennis courts and dog parks were reopened in late may, summer day camps remained cancelled. kirkland on march 30, kirkland closed its parks and park buildings. the city set up a telephone line for seniors to receive real-time updates and news about city resources. the ecclestone swimming pool was closed for the 2020 season. lachine on march 24, the borough of lachine said that it would contribute $35,000 to centraide's emergency fund. at the beginning of april, a testing centre opened at the cité medical de lachine clinic. a lachine repairman was criticized on april 6 after citizens learned that his wife had covid-19. on april 21, a case of covid-19 was diagnosed at the sisters of sainte-anne motherhouse; a month later, it was quebec's most- affected private senior residence. from may 3 to 5, the number of covid-19 cases in lachine doubled. on may 15, the borough cancelled garage sales until further notice. a viral outbreak after a july 18 lifeguard-initiation party forced city officials to temporarily close public pools. lasalle a person with covid-19 rode a bus from boulevard newman towards angrignon station on march 10. on march 27, parc des rapides in lasalle closed because of the pandemic. lasalle had the second-highest number of cases (237) of montreal's boroughs on april 7, just behind côte-des-neiges (400 cases). of lasalle's 237 cases, 23 had died; fourteen had stayed at the lasalle accommodation centre and nine at lasalle hospital. at least 29 patients had contracted the virus in the chsld (the accommodation centre), and 20 others in the hospital. on april 24, the red cross set up dozens of beds in the jacques lemaire arena. a mobile screening clinic was set up in lasalle on may 13. on june 4, soldiers deployed to chsld floralies began to leave the nursing home. l'île-bizard–sainte-geneviève in mid-march, despite the pandemic, the city of montreal began monitoring the spring freshets of the rivière des prairies (which runs alongside l'île-bizard–sainte-geneviève). at the end of march, montreal had 1,612 covid-19 cases; five were from the borough. mercier–hochelaga-maisonneuve the city of montreal announced the closure of all community centres, cultural facilities, libraries, swimming pools, arenas and sports facilities in mercier–hochelaga-maisonneuve (mhm) on march 13. four days later, it announced the temporary closure of all access montreal offices and permit counters. on march 24, mayor pierre lessard-blais announced that the borough would contribute $100,000 to centraide's emergency fund. on april 13, the francis-bouillon arena was converted to a homeless shelter; the maurice richard arena was converted to a similar facility a few days later. around that time, several pedestrian corridors were put in place in the borough to improve covid-19 security. in late april, a mobile screening clinic was deployed in the borough. twenty-seven canadian armed forces soldiers were deployed to the chsld benjamin-victor-rousselot on may 1. between may 2 and may 12, the number of deaths in the borough nearly doubled. on may 13, 15,000 masks began to be distributed to mhm residents over a nine-day period. the débrouillards scientific day camps were canceled on may 20. montreal-est on march 19, montreal-est announced the closure of all non-essential services the following day. a month later, residential construction (on april 20) and landscaping (on april 15) partially resumed. on june 2, the city announced the temporary closure of its facilities after three employees were diagnosed with covid-19 the previous week. montréal-nord on march 13, montréal-nord mayor christine black placed herself in voluntary quarantine after returning from her spring-break trip. three weeks after the covid-19 crisis began, the obsession club (a montréal-nord nightclub which prided itself on being the world's largest swinger club) filed for bankruptcy protection due to covid-19. on april 5, toronto raptors player chris boucher urged young people in montréal-nord to follow public-health guidelines. between march 25 and april 7, four employees tested positive for coronavirus in metro inc.'s meat and frozen distribution centre. since then, two other cases have been identified at this distribution centre. there were 50 confirmed cases in the borough on march 30. the first positive case in a chsld was reported in the borough, which had 149 cases, on april 7. two days later, the borough had 193 cases. there were 443 infected people, an increase of 52 percent in four days, on april 16. forty people in montréal-nord had died from covid-19 and 839 cases had been identified by april 22. montréal-nord had 1,153 confirmed cases by april 29, or 1,369 per 100,000 inhabitants. the rate in quebec was 325 per 100,000 inhabitants, and 143 in canada. according to le devoir, 23 percent of the borough's cases were health workers and 19 percent were residents of chslds.