Quebec entered the global race for personal protective equipment more than a month late, reveals a disturbing report from the Auditor General tabled on Wednesday. As a result, the state paid nearly $1 billion too much.
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The document establishes a timeline that raises many questions about the management of PPE (masks, gloves, gowns, etc.), when COVID-19 was claiming its first victims on the planet.
On January 30, the World Health Organization declares the new coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern”.
However, it was not until March 22, eight days after the declaration of a state of health emergency in Quebec, that Quebec began the massive purchase of PPE.
Moreover, the first inventory of PPE only took place on March 6, despite warnings from the WHO and the catastrophic situation in Italian hospitals.
Yet there were many warning signs. On January 25, the WHO had warned that “the effectiveness of PPE is highly dependent on an adequate and regular supply”.
Four days later, the authorities of the Ministry of Health are advised that “mask reserves should cover its regular needs for the next two years”.
On February 5, several establishments indicated to the ministry that they had supply problems for several PPE.
Finally, on February 7, the WHO warns world authorities that the demand for PPE is 100 times higher than usual.
More worryingly, Quebec had no stockpile of PPE, as was revealed at the start of the pandemic.
Such an emergency reserve existed from 2006 and had also been used during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. Then, in 2010, the Ministry of Health sold this emergency bank.
“The documents we consulted do not specify the reasons for this decision. No other measure was then put in place to compensate for the elimination of this reserve,” notes the Auditor in her report.
For example, agreements with suppliers could have been concluded to ensure supply in the event of a crisis.
As a result, Quebec found itself paying a high price for its personal protective equipment once panic set in on world markets.
At that time, some countries were willing to pay to divert supplies destined for Quebec.
Between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021, Quebec paid $3 billion for this equipment.
The Auditor estimates that the decline in value that followed this outbreak at the start of the pandemic resulted in a financial loss of $938 million, as of March 31.