Christian Dube will meet with opposition parties to take stock of Omicron variant

Quebec City -

Quebec Minister of Health Christian Dubé will meet with representatives of all parties on Tuesday morning to take stock of the evolution of the new Omicron variant.

The plan follows a request from Québec Solidaire (QS), which called for a meeting as soon as possible with the minister, public health experts and all the opposition parties.

Last Friday, The Canadian Press obtained the letter sent by QS spokesperson for health, Vincent Marissal, to the Minister of Health.

He called for a meeting because of the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in Quebec, a few weeks before Christmas, but also because of the worrying progression of the Omicron variant.

Dubé will take part in this virtual meeting by videoconference, along with the National Director of Public Health, Horacio Arruda. All opposition parties are also supposed to be represented by one of their elected legislators.

At a press conference in Montreal on Monday, Dubé confirmed that one case of the Omicron variant has been identified in Quebec. He said that public health has identified 115 travelers from African countries considered to be troubling when it comes to Omicron.

Dubé warned that the appearance of this variant is cause for concern, particularly for travelers.

"We ask Quebecers who travel abroad to remain excessively vigilant because the requirements on returning from their trip could change rapidly," he said.

"No matter where you travel, you have to be careful."

Minister Dubé argued that it is first necessary to determine whether the variant is resistant to vaccines or not, whether it is more contagious and whether it is more virulent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 29, 2021.