By Gordon Lambie
A ceremony in honour of all those who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic was held outside Sherbrooke’s city hall on Thursday, timed to coincide with the commemoration taking place at the National Assembly in Quebec City. Although kept small and brief in order to respect regulations on public gatherings, the event was attended by several members of the city council and administration, as well as an honour guard made up of police officers and firefighters.
Steve Lussier, Mayor of Sherbrooke, and Dr. Stéphane Tremblay, the President and General Manager of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, spoke briefly to acknowledge the more than 10,000 people who have fallen victim to the virus in the last year across the province and the more than 300 in the Estrie Region specifically.
“These people are more than a statistic,” Lussier said. “They were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and citizens that we remember.”
For his part, Tremblay spoke to the signs of hope brought by the ongoing vaccination campign, but he warned that the work of fighting COVID-19 is far from over.
“The physical consequences of the pandemic will disappear faster than the psychological consequences,” he said, calling the latter, “the next great challenge we face.”
Those present then stopped for a time of quiet reflection, concluded by the ringing of the bells at the nearby St. Michel Cathedral.
