We expected a serious turn of the screw. But François Legault’s press conference, despite its appearance of address to the nation, did not lead to new revolutionary health measures.
Two days before New Years Eve, the Prime Minister did not want to make a “cranky” of himself and ruin Christmas.
That is. We prefer to take our responsibilities than to have rules imposed on ourselves. But the bet remains risky.
The government made its decision without knowing which card is the most important in its game: it is only in three weeks that we will know if the Omicron variant is indeed less severe than the Delta, as studies lead in particular from the UK. Except that by then, Omicron will have time to spread since it is certainly much more contagious.
So, Quebecers must be extremely careful if they do not want the health system to be knocked out. after the holidays.
Already, Omicron is pushing Quebec into the cables.
Its exponential rise pushed the number of cases to a record 9,000 cases on Wednesday. And the real figure is even higher, because many Quebecers discouraged by the endless queues in front of screening clinics probably did not go to be tested.
For the past week, Quebec has been the province that has suffered the most, with twice as many cases per capita as Ontario and three times as many as Alberta and British Columbia.
It must be said that vaccination with a third dose is lagging behind in relation to other provinces. In our region, only 8.7% of the population has received it, a proportion almost twice as low as elsewhere in the country.
There is a long way to go. But our health system is on its knees, after 22 months of fighting. Everywhere, there is a lack of arms to stem this new wave.
As proof, the government is now asking infected people to do their own tracing, by contacting all those they could have infected themselves.
Quebec thus wants to deploy as many personnel as possible for vaccination. In this regard, it is encouraging to note that the number of daily doses administered has increased tenfold since the end of November.
A sign of overheating, the government is also asking people who have no symptoms not to come to a screening clinic, even if they have been in contact with an infected person.
In addition, he advises to use the rapid tests that are sorely lacking sparingly. Pharmacies tell their customers that they will not receive any for a week. Too late for Christmas!
Of course, no one had seen Omicron coming. But it is not when the fire is caught that you have to run and buy the extinguisher. Likewise, we should have added these tests to our toolbox long before the variant hit.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Health Christian Dubé assured that there was still room for maneuver in hospitals where 55% of the beds planned for COVID are occupied. But it is only in ten days that Omicron will really make its entry into the healthcare system.
So everyone will have to make an effort to reduce their contacts to a minimum, even if they are fed up with it. Even if the polls show that half of the population is starting to drop out, to drop basic measures.
Now is not the time to let our guard down. No time to binge that will pay dearly after Christmas, a bit like Christmas shopping on credit that catches up with us in January with interest as a bonus.
Please let us not shop for trouble after the holidays.
And this wish is addressed more particularly to the unvaccinated. We learned on Wednesday that those who refused to be vaccinated occupy half of the COVID-19 beds, even if they represent only 10% of adults in Quebec.
Let us not be afraid to say it, it is largely because of them that the entire population must make sacrifices, that the health network must postpone operations, which young people risk not go back to school in person in january …
It is therefore to them that we should tighten the screw, by applying the vaccination passport even more broadly, for example. And for Christmas, the least we can ask them is to stay cloistered at home.