Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante has announced that the city would be entering an "alert mode," as fears that the coronavirus will sweep the city.
"Despite the fact that this situation in Montreal is under control, the spread of the virus globally is evolving very quickly. That's why the Centre de securite civile (CSC) of Montreal will be going into Alert mode," Plante wrote on Twitter, translated from its original French.
#COVID19: ainsi, l'Organisation de la sécurité civile de l'agglomération de Montréal (OSCAM) prépare et déploie un plan afin d'assurer la continuité des services de la Ville aux Montréalais.e.s en cas de dégradation de la situation. (2/3) #polmtl
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) March 10, 2020
#COVID19: malgré le fait que la situation à Montréal est sous contrôle, la propagation mondiale du virus évolue très rapidement. C'est pourquoi le Centre de sécurité civile (CSC) de la @MTL_Ville passe en mode Alerte. (1/3) #polmtl
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) March 10, 2020
The moves are set in place to ensure the city has a plan in place to ensure citizens can always be in a situation where they can obtain essential services such as the fire department or police and ambulance services.
The city has been told to follow Public Health protocol, as well as to call Info-Sante's 811 line if they begin to develop symptoms of the virus after travelling outside of the country.
The city has also announced that the city's now-closed Hotel-Dieu Hospital, one of the oldest hospitals in North America, will reopen as a COVID-19 clinic.
The Ministery of Health announced that the hospital will reopen their old emergency room, and will be ready to accept patients with coronavirus symptoms.
Other regions in Quebec will take similar steps, such as Quebec City and Monteregie.
