I was sufficiently mixed with the health measures announced in recent weeks in Quebec, but those of Tuesday finished me. I can not help but, I who was jovial as ten during the holiday season, to see a loss of control.
We were in the mist. Here we are, plunged into a thick fog.
In itself, the measure that says doubly vaccinated and asymptomatic people see their isolation reduced from 10 to 5 days should encourage us.
But in the process, we are reminded that these people must continue to exercise caution.
Me, that does not encourage me. It worries me.
It worries me because the experience of the last few months has taught me that the more you relax the rules, the more you see a relaxation, misconduct, little cheating. To all that we have seen, finally, during the holiday season.
I don’t know about you, but all around me I heard stories of broken rules, hugs galore, groups getting bigger and so on.
Result: in almost every family there are now infected people.
We are not the first to proceed with this relaxation of measures. Other Canadian provinces have done it before us, as has the United States. Public health professionals say that this step can be passed without problem.
But many experts question this decision. Tuesday, immediately after this announcement, doctors and professors in microbiology and infectious disease went there with various warnings.
After five days, you can still be contagious. If we do not wear a mask properly and permanently and if we do not respect the rules of physical distancing, we can represent a risk for those around us.
In fact, we find ourselves in a curious situation: the vaccination causes the symptoms to subside. Many doubly vaccinated people who are currently stricken with COVID-19 will tell you that it often comes down to a runny nose.
This leads us to make such decisions in order to alleviate other problems – the labor shortage, in particular. But we forget that asymptomatic people or those with small symptoms can infect vulnerable people.
The risks that cautious experts point out are these.
Many workers are teleworking. But we forget that many others go to a company, a trade or a factory every day. These reduced isolations risk creating difficult, if not tense, climates.
The question of family life risks being a big puzzle. How will members of the same bubble, in the middle of a late start to school, live with the presence of a member who has symptoms or receives a positive test? How to arrive at a fair calculation? There is not much room for maneuver.
The other important aspect of Tuesday’s announcement concerns access to PCR tests, which will now be reserved for priority customers. This means that if you want to know if you are positive, you must rely on the famous rapid screening tests (I remind you that when returning from the United States, the federal government requires a PCR test result, judged more sure a quick test).
Do you want to talk about it? Their distribution is a disaster. It was a mistake to leave this to private pharmacies. We’re practically in the madhouse. One pharmacy requires you to have a file with them, the other does not. One pharmacy requires you to go through the web to get an appointment, the other doesn’t. One pharmacy accepts reservations over the phone, the other does not.
It makes no sense !
No pharmacy knows when it will receive its stock. And it’s when she learns that you can go on the web or line up to get her precious box.
“We were supposed to receive our box between 10 am and 3 pm,” a worker at my pharmacy told me before the holidays.
Getting your hands on a box of tests is a full-time occupation.
And please explain to me how it is that a pharmacy in a small town receives a case of 108 boxes of tests while a pharmacy in downtown Montreal, which has 15 times more customers, receives… the same quantity?
We are promised new arrivals of tests this week. Quebec has decided to take the lead and not wait for Ottawa. Well done ! So 3 million tests (or 600,000 boxes) should arrive this Wednesday. I hope the distribution will be more efficient.
If you don’t have a rapid test on hand, be aware that if you have symptoms compatible with COVID-19, you will be considered infected. And you will have to isolate yourself for five days.
There remains the question of identifying positive cases. By putting the responsibility for testing back in the hands of the people, the government is losing control over the number of cases.
Knowing that there are 15,000 cases in hospitals, streets, businesses and homes in Quebec is one thing. But not knowing that there would rather be 40,000 or 60,000 is another thing.
Fog, I tell you. And it’s only getting thicker.