Quebec students offer to do groceries for seniors stuck at home during COVID-19 pandemic

New seniors homes hope to curb spread of illnesses Quebec is moving ahead with plans to build new seniors homes aimed at preventing the transmission of infections.

MONTREAL — Students from a school near Quebec City have set up a grocery assembly and delivery service for elderly people confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teens, from Saint-Jean-Eudes High School in the Charlesbourg district, launched their initiative on Facebook, called 'Les jeunes à l'action.’

At first, the students said they were able to help seniors in the Charlesbourg, Beauport and Limoilou boroughs, but were soon able to expand their territory to the Lac-Beauport, Boischatel and Saint-Émile sectors.

They say they are only claiming the cost of purchase and a $5 fee to cover transportation as some of them are using their cars.

Their only objective, they assure, is to help the elderly in their region.

They say they also ensure that direct contact with the food and their ‘customers’ is avoided and various hygiene measures are respected.

Thursday, Quebec Premier François Legault directly asked seniors not to go to shopping centers, gather to eat or have coffee in the continued effort to reduce the risk of infection. He also encouraged people to keep in touch by phone.

Last Tuesday, the Réseau Fédération de l'âge d'or du Québec (FADOQ) urged seniors who refuse to comply with the request for confinement to take the situation seriously.

The network’s director general, Danis Prud'homme, pointed out that COVID-19 has caused the deaths of one in 15 people over the age of 70; among the 80 plus group, the proportion is one in seven.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2020.