“All options are on the table,” said Dr. Luc Boileau in an interview with Radio Canada’s Première Heure on Thursday morning. However, in a news conference on Thursday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé told reporters “there is no reason at the moment [… ] to change the strategy “. On Wednesday afternoon, the provincial public health institute (INSPQ) officially confirmed that Quebec is in the sixth wave of the pandemic, citing indicators such as high positivity, number of sick health workers and number of hospitalizations due to the highly contagious variant BA.2. Key indicators have been rising since mid-March and health officials believe they will rise in the coming days and weeks. “April will be a difficult month,” Boileau said, adding that cases were likely to decline in May. He said it was time for people to understand the significance of this wave and especially the habits they have to follow. “When we have COVID-19, the virus remains contagious for 10 days. Not five days – 10,” he said. Boileau said that according to the public health guidelines, people should be strictly protected for the first five days and then remain vigilant for the next five days wearing a mask and keeping a distance of two meters from others. “Keep doing some activities, but do not go to parties, dinners or see a lot of people or grandparents,” he said. Boileau said he relies on the goodwill of Quebec residents to be careful and reduce their contacts. “If we are able to see this change in behavior and attitude on this wave, it will help us all.” He said he was also closely monitoring the situation and planned to make a recommendation to the government on continuing to use masks in public places next week.

More restrictive measures not part of the plan: Dubé

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Dubé said that while the government was concerned about the increase in cases and hospitalizations, the situation was expected. He said what was not expected, however, was the rate at which the BA variant would spread.2. In recent days, it has become the dominant strain in the province, accounting for 50 percent of infections. “Our biggest concern for the healthcare network is that we already have more than 10,000 people missing from the COVID healthcare system,” said Dubé, although they are not necessarily infected with the virus. However, he said he was not worried about dismissal, as employees could now return to work after five days in solitary confinement, which “will help a lot to reduce the stress on our employees”. Health Minister Christian Dubé urges people in the regions as well as people living in nursing homes to be extra careful during this wave. (Sylvain Roy Roussel / Radio Canada)
Dubé said the effect of the BA.2 sub-variable is felt mainly in areas such as the North Shore, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec City and Gaspé. “This is because these are areas that have not been hit so hard by Omicron. Therefore, these are people who have less physical protection or immunity to Omicron than in the Montreal area,” he said.
While Dubé encourages people in the suburbs as well as residents of nursing homes to be extra careful, he says there is no plan to add restrictions to Quebec. “People need to learn to live with the virus,” he said. The sixth wave comes as Dubé begins deliberations today on his bill to end the health emergency. Asked by a reporter if he “sees the irony” that there is a debate about ending the public health emergency at the same time as the INSPQ confirms a sixth wave, Dubé replied “no, the opposite”. “Let’s make it clear today how we want to remove the measures. But we need transitional measures […] to make sure we can act. “ Dr. Gaston De Serres, an epidemiologist at INSPQ, says that while the increase in cases will be much smaller than what the province saw during the holiday season in December, its severity will depend on the behavior of the population. Dr Gaston de Serres, an epidemiologist at INSPQ, says people should use common sense and limit their contacts, regardless of whether the government tightens restrictions again. (CBC News)
“It must be understood that it is not because the government does not impose restrictions that people should not limit themselves to the number of contacts they have,” De Serres told CBC Montreal’s Daybreak. The INSPQ predicts that if the number of contacts people make during this wave is similar to that experienced by Quebec before Christmas, the increase will be significant. “We do not know how high this wave will be,” he said.