Quebec modifies health measures due to Omicron threat

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The Omicron variant of COVID-19 that causes worldwide concern arrived in Quebec earlier than expected, said a University of Montreal professor who works on projections for the province’s institute of public health (INSPQ).

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“We are a bit surprised, we thought it would arrive later in December, early January,” said Benoît Mâsse, professor of public health. “I was very surprised to see the spread in Ontario. And he’s at the door, he’s unstoppable. “

To better understand how present the variant is in Quebec as it spreads at an alarming rate in Ontario, all of Tuesday’s positive COVID-19 cases will be screened for Omicron, Health Minister Christian Dubé said, at a press conference on COVID-19. . The latest data shows that Quebec has 11 confirmed and 11 suspected cases of the variant.

“At the moment, we would still have a limited number in Quebec, but the real situation is probably underestimated,” Dubé said, adding that it is not yet clear how virulent Omicron is, but that it is much more transmissible than Delta.

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Amid an increase in the number of daily cases and, on Tuesday, an increase in hospitalizations, Dubé also announced the return to work from home and the distribution of rapid tests to all Quebecers (through pharmacies) starting in Monday.

Public health is also imposing the use of masks in the common areas of residences for the elderly, and Dubé did not rule out modifying the measures at any time depending on how the situation evolves, particularly with regard to hospitalizations, even when delaying potentially the return after the holidays. -to the school for students. A provincial source also told Reuters that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the prime ministers of the 10 provinces on Tuesday to discuss the variance.

Two years after the pandemic, some experts believe Quebec should do more to try to limit Omicron’s impact.

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Prativa Baral, an epidemiologist and doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said Quebec has the tools it needs to mitigate the spread, but that the onus still seems to lie with the individual.

“At this point, it shouldn’t be about, you know, measuring your risk and figuring it out,” he said. “It really should be like this – here are the systems and the ways to help you, and one of those systems is increased availability of rapid tests, which I was really happy to see, but some of those other systems should really re-evaluate how well ventilated our schools are. “

Making proper skins like the N95s more available is another way that Baral said Quebec should get ahead of the variant, but it should also keep people up to speed on what’s going on.

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“It’s an airborne virus, so cleaning your food, washing your hands, that’s great because it’s a general cleaning, but it won’t really help prevent COVID transmission,” he said. “So you know, really increase the focus on ventilation … on better quality masks and make them available.”

Baral, like many others, also believes that Quebec should be more proactive in detecting the variant.

“The more we know, the better it is,” he said. “We should do screening tests to see how much community spread there is, where the community spread is happening, and provide specific measures in those areas.”

Mâsse, for his part, said Quebec is not as equipped as some places to test variants. South Africa, which Omicron discovered, has great tools because it has been dealing with HIV for years, he said.

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“We don’t have all the equipment, all the personnel, all the training,” Mâsse said. “We have some, but certainly not at the level of other countries.”

On Tuesday, Quebec reported 1,747 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths. Hospitalizations increased from 25 to 293, the largest single-day increase since April. Of them, 75 are in intensive care.

Dubé said it remains to be seen whether Tuesday’s jump in hospitalizations is an isolated event or the start of a trend.

“When we get to know Omicron better, we can better understand the impact it could have on hospitals,” he said.

Given the increase in the number of daily cases in Quebec, Dubé said he hopes to move appointments for those who are eligible for COVID-19 boosters, but repeated shortages of staff at vaccination centers are causing delays. Quebec needs 500 vaccinators and administrative staff, he said.

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“So if you are available, please come and help us as you have been,” he said.

Although Dubé has not ruled out modifying the measures as the situation in Quebec evolves, some have expressed confusion that the government has not backtracked by allowing festive gatherings of 20 people. But Mâsse, who said the government did not expect the variant to arrive so quickly, said there is not much it can do.

Backing down from meetings “will create a lot more problems and people will complain,” he said, adding that the fact that Quebecers agree with the government’s response to COVID-19 has played a crucial role in how far it has gone. the province has arrived during the pandemic.

“The vaccination campaign is a success not only because the government did the right thing, but people came to the clinic and were vaccinated, that’s a big difference between us, Europe and the United States,” he said. “You need to keep the population with you, and if you try to impose measures now that are really going to make the holidays really difficult, you may lose the support of the population.”

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On Tuesday, Dubé and Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, called on Quebecers to limit contacts before the holidays and to “handle our own risk” before we meet.

“I call on the intelligence of Quebecers and I am asking them, if they have concerns, to reduce their contacts,” said Arruda.

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