The strong transmission that was generated in the capital during the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) calls for “great vigilance” for the summer season, public health warned Thursday. The population – especially the most vulnerable – is invited to wear the mask in large gatherings, even outside.
Posted at 2:52 p.m.
“This festival has obviously generated cases. We understand very well that people want to live and move on, but this other thing, we have no control over that. The virus is still there, ”said the national director of public health, the Dr Luc Boileau, at a press conference on Thursday.
He also indicated that several health care workers were infected on the sidelines of the festival, creating several absences in hospitals in Quebec. To those who felt flu-like symptoms after the FEQ: “isolate yourself,” said Mr. Boileau, saying he hoped the situation would resolve quickly.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
Tens of thousands of festival-goers came to attend the closing concert of the Festival d’été de Québec on Sunday, July 17.
Earlier, Thursday, La Presse reported that sewage screening and PCR tests show that the spread is on the rise in the Quebec region. The coronavirus rate measured in the sewers of the capital has doubled in the past week. The trend is, however, stabilizing – even decreasing – in the other cities where measures have been taken, namely Montreal, Laval and Gatineau.
Without “criticizing” the FEQ, an “extraordinary” and “very high reputation” festival, Luc Boileau nevertheless recommended that the public protect themselves at future festivals, in order to avoid reproducing this kind of episodes of strong transmission.
“Yes, you should wear the mask when you go to festivals and you are at risk. Older people who want to take advantage of that: they have fun, that’s ok, but wear the mask. And if others want to be kind enough to wear it to avoid passing that on, that’s not a bad idea,” he said.
On the way to a plateau
More generally, Quebec “is on its way to a plateau”, confirmed Mr. Boileau, confirming however that the upsurge in COVID-19 infections is still continuing for the moment, and that basic measures must continue to be implemented. be applied by the people.
“It continued to increase, but this pursuit wants to tend to stabilize. We are on our way to a plateau, ”he illustrated.
The head of public health recalled that the most recent projections from the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS), published on Wednesday, also provide for “a certain stability”. In its models, the organization said it expected a “stabilization of the number of new hospitalizations” in the next two weeks.
Within the next 14 days, the number of hospital admissions linked to the virus would reach “around 180 per day”. This is an increase from the organization’s latest projections. Last week, it predicted 160 new hospitalizations per day.
Like François Legault, the Dr Boileau recalled Thursday that the majority of hospitalized patients are hospitalized “with COVID”, and not “for COVID”. “With the new variants, we are in a new world and we are trying to adapt to it. »
In addition to the mask, which remains optional except in health establishments, Quebec continues to call on the population to apply basic measures: social distancing, hand washing and respiratory etiquette.