Horacio Arruda returns to the fold as a deputy in Quebec’s health ministry

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With little fanfare, the Legault government announced on Wednesday that Dr. Horacio Arruda has been named assistant-deputy minister in the Quebec Health Ministry.

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The provincial cabinet announced his nomination in a statement with no other details Wednesday night.

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Arruda had overseen the management of the public health department since 2012, when he was named to the post by then-health minister Yves Bolduc.

The man whom Quebecers would come to know as their director of public health after appearing on scores of almost daily televised press briefings submitted his resignation to Premier François Legault in January 2022, as hospitalizations because of COVID-19 reached their height.

Many observers harshly criticized Arruda’s recommendation for a curfew, among other measures to curb the pandemic. They also questioned his competence after he made comments on the use of rapid COVID-19 tests or asserted that the use of face masks provided a false sense of security.

Arruda returns to his job as assistant-deputy minister a year and a half after his departure.

His successor as head of the public health department, Dr. Luc Boileau, had been filling both jobs.