Faced with a transmission “which is progressing very quickly” – and while the Omicron variant represents 90% of cases in the metropolis – Montreal Public Health calls for great vigilance in view of Christmas. She recommends not to wait until December 26 to limit yourself to “small gatherings” with its “immediate bubble”, as announced Wednesday by the Legault government.
“In Montreal, we see that since last week, the perception of risk has changed. […] I can understand that for Christmas, December 24 and 25 in a mental health context, we can have small gatherings, but in small bubbles, maybe just with the parents or the immediate bubble. With a safe context and ventilation, I think we can afford it, ”explained the regional director of public health in Montreal, the DD Mylène Drouin, Thursday.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister François Legault confirmed that Christmas can always be celebrated with ten guests. It is not until December 26 that gatherings in residences and restaurants will be limited to six people or “two family bubbles”. However, these new restrictions were deemed insufficient by experts, who fear above all that they will come “too late”.
“The idea is not to increase the number of events and places where we are without a mask and close to people with whom we do not live on a daily basis”, for his part indicated the DD Drouin, adding that community transmission is “particularly strong” in Montreal.
“Maybe it’s okay to have ten people or six people after, but our message is that we have exponential community transmission in Montreal. We are all responsible and we must reduce the number of gatherings, and the number of people with whom we meet, ”later insisted in English the regional director.
20% positivity rate
3,668 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Montreal on Thursday. “It is certainly an underestimation of reality, since many people do not necessarily manage to have an appointment for screening and with rapid tests, we know, these cases are not declared. », Indicated Mme Drouin.
The positivity rate is between 18% and 20% depending on the neighborhood, which means that one in five tests turns out to be positive, something “never seen before” in Montreal. In Quebec, this positivity rate is 14.6%, which is already well above the 5% threshold recommended by the WHO. At the peak of the second wave, at the same time last winter, the province was at 9.2% positivity. The most affected Montreal neighborhoods are in the center of the island, where there is a large concentration of young adults between 18 and 44 years old, who represent 60% of new cases. In order, the sectors of Petite-Patrie, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Mile End, Villeray, downtown and Hochelaga are the most affected.
In the past week, hospitalizations have jumped 60% in Montreal; there are 181 people hospitalized there. “Our wish is to cut the transmission just before Christmas to prevent the increase that we see in young adults having repercussions on their parents, their grandparents or chronically ill people”, further raised Mr.me Drouin.
By his side, the president and CEO of the CIUSSS Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Sonia Bélanger, confirmed that surgical interventions will be reduced by 50%. “Our goal is to make 550 beds available to COVID patients Depending on the situation, we could increase this number of beds to 1000 in the coming days,” she said, specifying that 40,000 people are already in waiting for surgery in the area.
“By the first week of January, we could have reached our capacity of 500 beds in Montreal. These are simulations, hypotheses, but I must admit that I am rather worried this morning to see that we still have more than 3,000 new cases ”, also offered Mr.me Bélanger. “We are going to mobilize our resources where there are more hospitalizations. For example, we could go as far as reducing the opening of certain small emergency rooms in Montreal, to lend a hand to places where there would be more traffic. ”
In CHSLDs, each CIUSSS has already identified “designated accommodation centers” which will transform units into “hot zones” dedicated to welcoming positive residents. Public health asks medical specialists and other professionals to “lend a hand” to vaccination, as 8,000 of them have already done via the Je Contribue platform.