The regional health authority in the Montérégie region is asking those who attended a bingo hall in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu on Oct. 4 to get tested for COVID-19, after a person who attended the event tested positive.
Some 250 people, many of them seniors, attended the event organized at Bingo Communautaire HR in the hopes of taking home the $100,000 jackpot.
Given that the region was in the orange zone — the third of four coronavirus alert levels — and that they considered themselves to be a gambling house, organizers mistakenly believed that they had the right to host such a large number of people provided there was a maximum of 10 people per table and a distance of two meters between each of them.
While only one person has tested positive for the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, health authorities recommend getting screened as a precaution, due to the large number of people present and the fact that more vulnerable people may have frequented the bingo hall.
A mobile screening clinic is being set up Friday Oct. 16, at the Quality Hotel congress centre located at 725 du Séminaire Nord Boul. in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
Testing will be done between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Christian Dubé slammed organizers of the event during an afternoon press conference on Thursday on the province’s COVID-19 response, saying he was annoyed.
While Dubé understands organizers believed they could hold the event, he said they showed a lack of judgment.
“It’s not a matter of saying that you could or not do it, it’s should you do it? he said, adding that inviting elderly people, who are more vulnerable to the virus, to be together in a room where they’re going to stand up and yell is not a good idea.
Dubé said the government’s objective in October was to limit gatherings to curb the spread of the virus.
“Today we’re discussing ways to make sure people follow the measures so that we can stop having 1,000 cases per day, to stop hospitalizations and deaths,” he said.
“So I am telling you clearly: ‘bingos are not allowed, is that clear?'”
Dubé added he didn’t want bingo halls to become the next karaoke, referring to a COVID-19 outbreak in a karaoke bar in Quebec City in late August that led to dozens of people becoming infected.
On Thursday, Quebec reported 969 new cases and 28 additional deaths linked to the pandemic.
— With a file from Michel Saba of The Canadian Press