With another COVID climb, Quebec health minister calls news conference for Thursday morning
UPDATE: Get the latest update on this story here.
With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on the rise in Quebec, public health officials have called a news conference for Thursday morning.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé and public health director Dr. Luc Boileau are holding a news conference Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
A spokesperson for the health minister confirmed Dubé won’t be announcing any new health measures or new mask mandates.
He will, though, tell Quebecers to be careful, especially if they’re attending gatherings, and in particular for people over 60 years old or who are immunocompromised.
Dubé will also address the question of the fourth dose of vaccine, reiterating public health’s message last week that all adults can get a COVID-19 booster if their last vaccine was more than three months ago, or they had COVID-19 more than three months ago.
Public health is advising those in an at-risk group to get the fourth dose.
HOSPITALIZATIONS CLIMBING
COVID-19 hospitalizations are continuing their upward trajectory in Quebec, with the health ministry reporting an increase of 56 -- that's 183 entries and 127 discharges -- in 24 hours.
The province also reported 13 new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, bringing the total in Quebec to 15,630 since the pandemic began.
There are currently 40 people in intensive care, an increase of one from the previous day. Due to a "compilation problem," data on ICU admissions and discharges was not available Wednesday, according to the Quebec government website.
NEW CASES
The province also logged 1,839 new cases of the virus, but this number is not reflective of the actual situation as PCR testing is not available to the general public.
In addition, 642 more positive rapid tests were self-declared. A total of 240,214 rapid tests have been recorded since Quebec opened its online portal.
Quebec health-care workers administered an additional 7,130 doses of the vaccine. So far, Quebecers have received 20,078,507 shots.
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