Downward trends mean Montreal can begin living with the virus, Drouin says

Article content

With the worst of the Omicron wave of COVID-19 behind us, Montreal public health said on Wednesday it’s comfortable with the gradual removal of restrictions in Quebec.

Article content

A combination of high vaccination rates and natural immunity stemming from the latest wave — when an estimated 30 per cent or more of the city caught the Omicron variant — means we can move toward living with the virus, said Montreal public health director Dr. Mylène Drouin .

“We have seen in the last five weeks that all our indicators are decreasing, so we’re (OK) with the progressive withdrawal of some populational measures,” she said. “Of course we want to make sure that we still stay vigilant, because we know that we can see other variants coming in and the virus is still circulating at a high level in Montreal.”

As of Wednesday, 500 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in Montreal, compared with roughly 1,200 during the peak of the Omicron wave last month. Over the past week, nine people have died from the virus in the city.

Article content

“It is quite a big reduction that we’re seeing each week,” Drouin said of the death toll.

She added that vaccination rates among the elderly are high, with nearly 85 per cent of the 70-plus age group boosted. The city’s incidence and positivity rates have also been declining, as has absenteeism in schools.

At the same time, surgeries and other delayed clinical activities are gradually resuming in the city, with operating rooms working at 86 per cent capacity.

“We’re summarizing activities much quicker this time compared with previous waves,” said Sonia Bélanger, head of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. “I think it’s safe to say that for hospitals, the worst of the fifth wave has passed.”

Roughly 45,000 Montrealers are waiting for surgeries, a number public health hopes to halve by the spring of 2023. Once the wait list is brought down to 25,000, operations will be able to be carried out within six months, Bélanger said.

Article content

“For us, the situation, it’s an absolute priority.”

Given the downward trends in Montreal, Drouin said the city is entering a “transition phase” she hopes will result in the population adopting habits to protect both themselves and vulnerable groups moving forward. Her recommendations from her were standard: get the booster when eligible; follow government guidelines in the event of developing symptoms; and keep wearing masks during close, prolonged contact with others.

Asked how vulnerable people are expected to live with the virus if their conditions do not allow them to, Drouin said vaccines and antiviral medications are part of the city’s toolbox to protect them, but that they will also have to “be aware of places where they go and they can be more at risk, certainly at the current time when we know that the virus is circulating.”

Article content

“It is not perfect, but where we are right now, we cannot maintain measures that have other collateral impacts for other groups of the population knowing that a small group is at risk,” she said.

Though Drouin said she hopes Wednesday’s COVID-19 news conference would be her last, she emphasized the pandemic is not over — low vaccination rates in other countries mean a new variant could emerge at any time. (The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, she said, currently represents under 10 per cent of cases in Quebec.)

“We’re not getting back to the same normality that we had in 2019, but of course we can reduce some measures,” Drouin said. “We’re at the descending phase of the fifth wave, so the measures we have reinforced… are less necessary at the time we’re speaking.”

Article content

The cyclical pattern of the virus observed over the course of the pandemic means that the next few months will likely be calm despite a possible increase in cases following the easing of measures, Drouin said, but it remains to be seen what the fall will look like .

“We’re preparing how we’re going to manage if we have a new variant or an increase of COVID,” she said. “Is it going to be vaccinated? Are we going to put some measures in place? Or are we still going to be more managing it like influenza? We’re preparing, but I cannot predict what it’s going to be right now.”

[email protected]

twitter.com/katelynthomas

All our coronavirus-related news can be found at montrealgazette.com/tag/coronavirus.
For information on vaccines in Québec, tap here.
Sign up for our email newsletter dedicated to local COVID-19 coverage at montrealgazette.com/coronavirusnews.
Help support our local journalism by subscribing to the Montreal Gazette here.