Quebec calls on thousands of public servants to help clean, distribute meals in hospitals
Quebec's treasury board is calling on public servants from all departments to help in hospitals, CTV News has confirmed.
Radio-Canada first reported that an internal letter was sent to government personnel asking them to temporarily become service aids.
Service aids help prepare and distribute meals to patients, they also help with cleaning and other tasks. Quebec's health ministry is looking to hire 2,165 of them.
A treasury spokesperson told CTV News the call for help is in response to rapidly-rising occupancy in Quebec's hospitals due to the highly-infectious Omicron variant.
"(There is) an urgent need for personnel," Florence Plourde told CTV in an email, adding that the aids will be brought in over the coming weeks.
As of Sunday, there were 3,085 people in hospital with COVID-19, 275 of whom were in the ICU.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault was cautiously optimistic about Omicron's effect on the province's hospitals in the coming days.
On Thursday, he said he had been advised by public health that the current wave is likely coming to its peak, and that hospitalizations would soon follow suit.
"We have to remain very careful. The number of hospitalization is still very high, and will maybe continue to increase for the next few days," he said, predicting hospitals may see their highest rates of admission over the weekend.
Officials continued to encourage Quebecers to be vaccinated. Even as Omicron infections spread rapidly among those vaccinated and unvaccinated alike, it still provides good protection against serious infection.
“Vaccination is continuing," said Legault. "It is the key in order to be able to live with the virus."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.