Prime Minister François Legault announced Thursday that his government could not “afford” to further relax the health measures currently in place.
• Read also: The balance sheet COVID darkened by 98 deaths in Quebec
• Read also: Hospitalizations are expected to decrease in the coming weeks
• Read also: Ontario will gradually deconfine starting January 31
“We see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we are at the peak of the pandemic with more than 3,400 hospitalizations,” he said.
“We seem to have reached the peak of hospitalizations (…) This is good news (…) If we stay at this level, we will not need to set up plan B in the network of health.”
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
“I ask you to be careful and patient […] We will eventually get out of it, urges the Prime Minister.
He was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and the acting national director of public health, Luc Boileau.
- Listen to the meeting of political analysts Elsie Lefebvre and Marc-André Leclerc on QUB radio
Heard at the press conference
- Quebec is moving forward with the vaccine passport in large businesses, despite the fact that hospitalizations have reached a peak, says François Legault.
- Quebec wants to put in place “a plan to overhaul the health network”, announces François Legault in the wake of the Castonguay report.
Slight drop in hospitalizations
Despite a slight drop in the number of hospitalizations, the situation remains critical in the health network, with 3,411 patients currently hospitalized in the province.
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
For its part, Ontario announced this morning a gradual deconfinement from January 31, the date on which the dining rooms of restaurants, bars, cinemas and gyms will be able to reopen at 50% of their capacity.
More details to come…