Quebec Premier Francois Legault tested positive for COVID-19 after developing symptoms Thursday afternoon.
The premier made the announcement in a post to social media later on the same day.
“This afternoon, I started experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. I took a screening test and received a positive result,” he wrote. “I feel good.”
He said he’d continue working from home over the next five days, as prescribed by the province’s isolation guidelines.
“We’re seeing a rise in cases lately: the virus is present in Quebec,” he added. “Let’s continue to be careful. We’ll get through this together!”
His diagnosis came the day after Quebec’s Public Health Director Luc Boileau told reporters he had advised regional health boards to prepare for an incoming rise in cases across the province.
The projected spike in cases coincides with the arrival of Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant in Quebec, which now accounts for about half of the province’s daily infections.
That rise in cases has already started in Quebec. For the second day in a row, the province reported more than 2,000 new positive PCR tests for COVID-19 on Thursday.
That number is likely an undercount since PCR tests only available to select groups. In addition, 1,096 Quebecers declared they had received positive results on a rapid test.
The positivity rate for PCR testing was 15 per cent.
— This is a developing story which will be updated.