Quebec enters seventh wave of COVID-19
As Quebec enters the seventh wave of COVID-19, the province's health minister says the situation is "under control for the moment" but is urging residents to be "vigilant."
"We are not here at all to reimpose health measures," Health Minister Christian Dubé said Thursday during a news conference. "We've said all along that we need to live with this COVID."
The health minister said that isolating when sick and keeping up to date on vaccinations is key to curbing this latest surge of the virus and protecting the most vulnerable members of the community, including the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
On the latter, he announced the province will soon release new guidance on its website for people to help them decide when they should seek booster doses of the vaccine to ensure they are protected from the latest Omicron variants that are spreading in Quebec and elsewhere in the world.
Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec's public health director, joined the health minister for the media briefing Thursday morning. The pair has not been side-by-side for COVD-19 updates in quite some time.
Quebec's hospitalizations surpassed 1,500 on Thursday—a number not seen since May, according to Quebec's public health institute (INSPQ).
NEW WAVE COULD PEAK IN WEEKS
This new wave, however, is not expected to persist for much of the summer, Boileau predicted openly.
"The evolution should curve down during the month of July, but there are uncertainties about that and we will follow the situation very carefully," he said.
The rise is nonetheless happening as more and more health-care workers are being reported absent from work due to COVID-related reasons. On Thursday, the number reached more than 7,300.
Boileau highlighted the prevalence of subvariants of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus—BA.4 and BA.5—that is being blamed for surges in other countries.
The more contagious variants account for a growing proportion of variants across Canada in recent weeks. According to the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), BA.5 accounted for 20.4 per cent of cases as of June 12. By that date, BA.4 represented about 7.4 per cent of cases.
A month prior, each of those variants accounted for about 1 per cent of cases.
The province explained Thursday that while the two subvariants are proving to be more contagious, they don't appear at this time to be more virulent than previous variants. This is the bar Quebec is using to decide whether or not to bring back more public health measures, Boileau told reporters.
"If there's a variant that shows that it's a deadly one, that we calculate that there's a risk of increasing the risk for the system and the people, their mortality, morbidity, then it will certainly bring back some very new [measures]," Boileau said.
"But this is not what we're what we are facing right now."
PEOPLE NOT RESPECTING ISOLATION RULES: PUBLIC HEALTH
The public health officials attributed some of the blame for the rise in infections on people not respecting isolation guidelines. "That explains the current wave," Boileau said.
"Clearly, there are a lot of people who are not respecting the rules."
Boileau reminded the public that once symptoms are observed, a complete isolation of five days is necessary.
After that, infected people should wear a face mask for another five days during any social interaction since people who test positive remain contagious for 10 days.
On Thursday, Quebec reported the positivity rate remained stable at 14.5 per cent as it logged 1,755 new infections from PCR testing, which is reserved for priority clientele.
The province is also monitoring 339 active outbreaks of the virus across Quebec. On Tuesday, COVID-19 outbreaks caused the closure of three Quebec sleepaway camps.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
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.
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.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
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.
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.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.