Just four days after Prime Minister François Legault announced various restrictions due to the spread of the Omicron variant, Health and Social Services Minister Christian Dubé felt the need to come back. And this could be followed by other measures, the Caquista government awaiting Monday evening the new projections of the experts of the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) and the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ).
It is “one day at a time”, dropped Christian Dubé, who indicated that he wanted to “make a break” with the measures he announced on Monday. The possibility for Quebecers to gather for the Holidays in groups of no more than ten people seemed to hang by a thread. “There is nothing very definitive,” he said. “We are at war. “
These gatherings of ten people are still allowed, but the minister, flanked by the national director of public health, Horacio Arruda, and the director general of pandemic management, Daniel Paré, invited the population to reduce their contacts as much as possible. The general message: the less, the better.
With the Delta variant, the situation was in equilibrium, the load shedding was limited and the hospital network was operating at 90% of its capacity. But with the Omicron variant, the situation has changed. “The surge in cases, it is incredible,” said the minister, and the situation is “critical”. Quebec has just experienced a peak in the number of daily cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, or 4,571. This is more than the surge of nearly 3,000 cases reached during the second wave in January 2021. While the two doses of vaccine were sufficient to protect about three quarters of the vaccinated population against the Delta variant, this protection drops to 30% with the much more contagious variant Omicron. Obviously, it is still the unvaccinated people who are most at risk of suffering complications, or even death.
Monday began to make an appointment for the inoculation of a third dose for people 65 years of age and over. But vaccination has not yet reached its cruising speed. We are still waiting for the arrival of additional vaccinators. One thing is certain, it is too late for Christmas.
The Omicron variant is only just starting to spread, and half of the network’s hospital capacity of 800 patients affected by COVID-19 is already full. The number of these hospitalizations increased by almost 50% in one week. The word “shedding” has returned to Christian Dubé’s mouth.
On Monday, the free distribution of rapid tests to the general population in pharmacies got off to a chaotic start. Ottawa provided Quebec with 4.2 million of these tests, in addition to the 6 million distributed in schools. In principle, all Quebecers aged 14 and over are entitled to a five-test kit. It seems obvious that the demand by Christmas will exceed the supply.
Another problem: the network’s capacity to carry out PCR tests, that is to say 45,000 tests per day, is exceeded, to such an extent that the minister has had to insist on pointing out that only people who show symptoms should be tested. In addition, due to the high number of cases, the health network is unable to ensure contact tracing. It is up to the sick to warn the people with whom they have been in contact and to ask them to isolate themselves. One can doubt the effectiveness of this volunteering.
Students are on vacation until January 10. But primary schools will continue their vaccination activities for children aged 5 to 11. Just over half of children in this age group received a first dose.
In Europe, where the Omicron variant is on the verge of becoming dominant, several countries are planning to take drastic measures. In the Netherlands, where the vaccination rate is similar to what exists in Quebec, the government has ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, bars, restaurants, cinemas, etc. The number of guests allowed on Christmas and New Years Day is four.
Here, gatherings of ten should be avoided; at least that’s what we get from the government’s message. We must resign ourselves to reviewing our plans in order to limit our contacts as much as possible, while scrupulously observing the sanitary measures of wearing a mask, distancing and washing hands. We are not sure what the future holds. And Christian Dubé was not reassuring.