感染怖いけど…コロナ下で数万世帯が一斉引っ越し、カナダ・ケベック州

【モントリオールＡＦＰ＝時事】引っ越しはどれほどタイミングが良くても面倒なものだが、カナダ・ケベック州では同日に多くの賃貸契約が一斉終了するうえ、今年は新型コロナウイルス流行の影響でいっそう転居の困難さが増している。（写真はカナダ・ケベック州ラバルで、家具を運ぶ引っ越し作業員）
　フランス語圏の同州では、毎年７月１日に大勢が一斉に引っ越しをする。モントリオール市内だけでも、公式統計で８万～１０万世帯が毎年この時期に転居している。
　この伝統の始まりは１８世紀までさかのぼり、雪が完全に解けるまで小作人を借家から追い出すのを地主に禁じたことが背景にあるとされる。
　「もう、不安で」と、マスク姿の引っ越し作業員に離れた場所から家具を運ぶ指示を出しながら、ファッションデザイナーのシェイラ・ダッサンさん（４６）は語った。「他人が自分の物に触ることになるでしょう。家の外では危機が続いているから、知らない人たちがわが家の中に（ウイルスを）持ち込んでしまうかもと思うと怖い」
　ケベック州では多くの賃貸契約が６月３０日に満了を迎える。７月１日が建国記念日「カナダ・デー」で祝日なため、例年ならば少し余裕をもって引っ越しができるタイミングだ。
　だが、今年は新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９）が収束しない中、公衆衛生上の危機によって賃貸物件不足が悪化しており、ホームレスになってしまうのではないかと心配する声も多い。「居住の権利」を守る人権団体「ＦＲＡＰＲＵ」によれば、転居先が見つからないとの相談電話の件数は昨年の９８件から１７１件に激増した。
　当局は、感染拡大を防ぐため友人や近隣住民に引っ越しの手伝いを頼まず、予防措置を講じている業者を利用するよう推奨している。これも「余計な出費となり、家計の苦しい家庭に追い打ちとなっている」とＦＲＡＰＲＵは指摘する。
　引っ越し業者も、利用客の強いストレスや消毒に関する質問にさらされ、不安を感じている。
　ある業者では、トラックは毎晩消毒し、転居先の室内に作業員と同時に立ち入る顧客は１人に限定するなど、さまざまな安全対策を新たに講じた。だが経営者は、家具を移動する際に「２メートルの対人距離を確保することなど絶対に不可能」だと述べた。新たな安全対策には、およそ１０万カナダ・ドル（約７９０万円）の費用がかかる見通しだという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/07/06-11:38）

Moving house is a palaver at the best of times, but in the Canadian province of Quebec it is even more testing as the majority of leases end on the same day.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the French-speaking region move on July 1, and in Montreal alone 80,000 to 100,000 households change their address around this time of year, according to official city figures.
The tradition reportedly dates from the 18th century, when landlords were forbidden from evicting tenant farmers until all snow had cleared.
This year moving season has been further complicated by the coronavirus epidemic sweeping Canada.
I was worried, said Sheila Dassin, a 46-year-old fashion designer, directing masked workers from a distance as they strained under the weight of her furniture.
People are going to touch your things. With the crisis outside, we are afraid of people, that strangers will bring it inside our house.
Quebec has reported more than half of Canada's approximately 104,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly two-thirds of its 8,600 deaths.
The lease-date quirk -- most end on June 30 -- coincides with Canada Day, a national holiday on July 1, which gives Quebec residents some spare time to complete their moves.
But given the fraught situation this year, more people than usual feared they would be made homeless by a housing shortage compounded by the ongoing health crisis.
The number of calls for help exploded, said Veronique Laflamme, spokeswoman for housing rights group FRAPRU.
She said 171 households had found themselves without a lease this year in Montreal, compared with 98 in 2019.
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, authorities recommended that people not ask friends and neighbors for help with their move, but instead use a moving company, because they are able to take health precautions.
It's an additional expense, which piles on for households already struggling to make ends meet, Laflamme said.
- Stress and anxiousness -
Moving furniture makes it completely impossible to keep a distance of two meters (six feet), said Pierre-Olivier Cyr, whose company, The Moving Clan, has implemented a number of new safety measures.
Among them is a rule allowing only one customer in the home at a time to minimize contact with the moving team.
Since March the company, which owns around 60 trucks, has been disinfecting its fleet every night and has purchased around 10,000 reusable masks.
Implementing new safety measures cost the firm an estimated CAN$100,000 (US$73,600), which it so far has not passed on to customers.
People have lost their jobs, the means are not there, Cyr said, adding that he doesn't rule out an increase if the pandemic were to stretch on.
Maxime Villemure, CEO of Spaceful, a Montreal moving start-up, said that customers are still quite stressed. They ask us questions about the hygiene measures we're taking. We sense anxiousness.
Employees must keep a two-meter distance and wear gloves and a mask, even on the first day of July, with temperatures pushing 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
Dassin said her movers were careful, they put on masks, they were very professional.
I won't be afraid to touch my things tonight, she said.