Quebec health rules could be tightened again, depending on next two weeks: health officials

Hospitalizations are dropping among every age group of Quebecers except children under 10, say health officials. It's one of a few early worrying signs that indicates the Omicron wave may not be entirely under control yet.

While the wave continues to decrease from its peak, that decrease is slowing from its rate a week ago -- meaning numbers are slightly less promising than they were, though the wave is not back on the rise overall.

That's to be expected as rules ease, said interim public health chief Dr. Luc Boileau. But he acknowledged there could be an overall rise in hospitalizations again as people's social contacts increase, and that could, in turn, potentially bring another tightening of rules, he warned.

He said he hopes that's not the case. The period between now and February 23 will largely determine what happens next, he added. Caution is still needed to protect the "delicate" health system, he added.

"We're staying optimistic," said Boileau in a Wednesday press conference.

One warning sign authorities are watching is children's hospitalizations, with Boileau saying the number of kids under 12 arriving at emergency rooms with COVID-19 has slightly increased in recent days, as the overall hospitalization numbers for young children stays steady.

Children have now been back in school for two weeks. For children under 10, the hospitalization numbers are considered to be stable, but not dropping, said Michèle de Guise, the interim director of Quebec health agency INESSS.

On Tuesday, nine children under five were newly admitted to hospital, according to the daily statistical update.

In the last 28 days, there have been 197 kids in that age group admitted to hospital. There are currently no children under five in intensive care.

Reading the significance of those numbers can be difficult, however. Officials noted in the press conference that "children are often admitted to hospital with COVID-19, and not because of COVID-19."

Dr. Marie-France Raynault, a director at the ministry of health, later elaborated on what hospitals are seeing around children's admissions.

"The COVID is identified in the emergency room because these children are tested -- they're tested with PCR so we can follow them, but they're not necessarily sick from COVID," she said.

"They can come to the emergency room for... a fracture or anything that brings the children to the hospital, but as there is a lot of transmission in the community, it's clear that we'll see also this transmission in the emergency rooms."

OVER 47,000 CHILDREN CURRENTLY ABSENT FROM SCHOOL

In another indicator, as of Friday there were also more than 47,000 Quebec schoolchildren absent from class because they have COVID-19 or need to self-isolate, according to provincial statistics. That represents about 3.5 per cent of all students.

There are also 2,362 teachers absent due to the virus, or 1.74 per cent of all Quebec teachers. Another 2,176 other school staff members are absent.

The province has begun publishing these stats regularly, though not on a daily basis.

Under current rules, Quebec classrooms will only be fully shut, going online, when 60 per cent of their students are absent with the virus. There are 118 classes currently in that situation.

Of the 47,702 total of students absent, about 32,000 are primary-school students and about 14,500 are in secondary schools.

Of all age groups, Quebec children aged five to 11 also have the lowest vaccination rates, by far, with only 63 per cent of them already given a first dose.

Raynault said the province is relying partly on its school vaccination campaign to boost these rates and especially to get second doses to the children whose families have already begun to immunize them.

"I think it's important that they get the second dose, because it will bring down the transmission [in] the schools," she said, as well as helping decrease the cases that end up spreading among the children's families.

Boileau said some clarifications are needed around the current rules for children. For example, all students returning to school sports must wear a mask at all times while playing the sport, regardless of age, he said.

For children under 10, in sports and other civil activities outside of school, "it's not mandatory to wear those masks, but it's a strong medical recommendation coming from me and all my colleagues in the domain of public health and paediatrics," he said.

"We need to encourage the kids to use [masks] to protect themselves and to protect... their brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents."

For all Quebecers, Boileau stressed, it's very important to get a third dose, as the data continues to show that the severity of a COVID-19 infection is generally lessened by far for those who have a booster.