Author of the article: Jesse Feith • Montreal Gazette
Publication date: Jul 06, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 4 min read • 18 comments Customers browse the stalls for produce at the Jean-Talon Market on Saturday, June 25, 2022. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

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Quebec’s health minister and public health director will hold a joint press conference Thursday to address the province’s recent spike in COVID-19 pandemic indicators.

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The update comes as hospital admissions continue to rise in Quebec and the number of daily cases confirmed through PCR testing has nearly tripled in the past month. In an interview Wednesday, Dr. Nathalie Grandvaux, of the CHUM Research Center, said she doesn’t think the province needs to roll back public health measures just yet. But he urged the government to step up its tone on the pandemic and remind people what needs to be done to protect themselves and those around them. “In theory, we should have all the tools we need to manage things before we get to a point where we have to impose measures,” Grandvaux said. “But we’re not doing anything to make sure we don’t end up in those conditions.”

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On Wednesday, Quebec’s health ministry reported there were 1,497 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, the highest number since late May. Of the hospitalized patients, 40 were in intensive care — nearly double the number in mid-June. An additional 13 deaths were also attributed to the virus. The province reported 1,839 additional cases of COVID-19 confirmed through PCR testing. Since the tests are not accessible to most people in Quebec, the number is not representative of the situation in the province. However, the seven-day rolling average of new cases detected through PCR tests rose from 517 at the end of May to 1,324 on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Prime Minister Francois Lego said he was closely monitoring the rise but believed the situation remained under control.

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Last week, public health director Dr. Luc Boileau urged Quebecers to be cautious, but maintained that there are no immediate plans to reinstate public health measures. However, since then, the indices have continued to move in the wrong direction. Over the past seven days, the number of healthcare workers absent due to COVID-19 has risen from 6,285 to 7,041. Grandvaux said there are several factors contributing to the increase. They include the presence of more infectious variants, the decline of vaccine immunity and the lifting of public health measures to coincide with summer concentrations. “That’s how many people get infected,” he said. “And, as a result, vulnerable people end up in hospital.”

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In an interview, Dr. Donald Wynn, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Center, urged the government to address the situation before it worsens further. “All the indicators are pointing in the wrong direction,” Vinh said. “I don’t think there is an optimistic indicator that could be used to show that things are going well.” Vinh says the province will have to re-implement public health measures. And refusing to do so because it might look like we’re taking a step back after removing them, he added, is a “failed mindset that could get us into trouble.” It also takes exception to the government’s repeated claim that it does not believe the situation will worsen over the summer. “The days of foolish optimism are gone,” Vinh said. “It’s hard to hear someone say, ‘We don’t expect this to get any worse’ when it does.”

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Forecasts published Wednesday by the Institut National d’Excellence en santé et en services sociaux suggested hospital admissions for COVID-19 could soon reach 170 a day. The institute noted that these numbers would put the entire province above the Level 3 alert threshold set by the provincial health ministry. Meanwhile, doctors have warned that the increase comes at a time when the network is already strained, with COVID-19-related holidays and absences contributing to staff shortages. With the increase in recent weeks, several public health experts have questioned whether Quebec is entering a seventh wave of the pandemic. Last week, Boileau said it was too early to tell. Grandvaux, for her part, said the debate over whether or not the next wave has begun misses the point.

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The virus is always here, he said, and there’s no reason to believe the province will somehow be protected from future variants. “Talking about waves is a bit like telling people there’s nothing to worry about between them,” Grandvaux said. “But it’s not like that – the virus is always there.” [email protected] All our news about the coronavirus can be found at montrealgazette.com/tag/coronavirus. For information about the vaccine passport, click here. Sign up for our email newsletter dedicated to local COVID-19 coverage at montrealgazette.com/coronavirusnews. Help support our local journalism with subscribe to the Montreal Gazette here.

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