Masks won't be required in Quebec psychiatric hospitals as province creates exception to reduced mandate
Quebec psychiatric hospitals have been carved out of the province's reduced mask mandate set to begin Saturday, which will maintain mandatory masks in other health centres.
Public Health Director Dr. Luc Boileau said the risk in most mental-hospital settings is comparable to the general community. However, in areas where there may be close contact between psychiatric and COVID-19 patients, such as waiting rooms, "we have to be very careful and make sure that they will be masked."
In other, larger psychiatric institutions, such as the Douglas Mental Hospital in Montreal, "if [staff] and patients want to wear them, then of course [they will be able to]," he said during a Wednesday press conference. "But it will not be mandatory."
Boileau was joined by public health medical advisor Dr. Marie-France Raynault and pediatric infectious diseases specialist Dr. Caroline Quach to provide a snapshot of the pandemic in Quebec.
The sixth wave is on the decline, they said.
"Deaths, hospitalizations, absences," listed Boileau, "all indicators suggest that we can gradually return to normal."
Part of that "return to normal" is a significantly reduced public mask mandate, which will allow Quebecers to appear maskless in most public spaces.
Masks will still be required on public transit, as well as in most health-care settings, except in mental health units.
HOSPITALIZATIONS TO KEEP DROPPING: PROJECTIONS
Quebec's public health institute released new projections on hospitalizations suggesting vacancy will rise in both general and intensive care units.
For the first week of May, about half -- 48 per cent -- of those in hospital with COVID-19 caught the virus after being admitted.
Now that fourth-dose vaccines are open to the general public, Boileau also added some details on what the province is expecting. He said that pregnant people and others with heightened risk are encouraged to get the extra dose, and those who are low-risk may get it if they choose, though it likely won't increase their immunity too much.
He did double down on urging the entire population to get a third dose, which he said was much more important than the fourth dose for preventing severe illness. Only about half of Quebecers have a third dose.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.