omicron forces françois legault's hand on implementing new restrictions
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in a turn of events that has quebecers experiencing déjà vu, the province has amended its guidelines around gatherings only days after it announced larger ones would be allowed for the holidays.
at a last-minute news conference on thursday, premier françois legault announced a string of public health restrictions he hopes will halt the spread of the omicron variant amid a recent surge in daily covid-19 case numbers, which projections show will result in a significant increase in hospitalizations over the next days and weeks. those projections suggest hospitalizations, which currently stand at 305 across the province, could more than double by jan. 8.
“when we hear hospitalizations will increase significantly over the next days and weeks, well, we have to act,” legault said.
personal gatherings will continue to be limited to 10 people in general and for the holidays, and, as of monday, stores, restaurants, bars, gyms, spas, venues and places of worship will have to operate at 50 per cent capacity. the latter — which will only be allowed to accommodate 250 people total — will need to begin applying the vaccine passport.
activities deemed at-risk like office parties, karaoke and dancing will be banned as of monday.
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elementary schools will return to in-person classes as scheduled after the holidays, but high schools, cegeps and universities will have to do online learning until jan. 10 (if they were scheduled to return beforehand). masks will need to be worn in schools at all times.
outdoor sports will be able to continue, but tournaments will be cancelled.
weddings and funerals will be able to take place for a maximum of 25 people with vaccine passports.
“i understand that all quebecers are tired,” legault said. “we are all tired, but unfortunately i need you. we still have a battle to lead, i need you and the effort of each person will be very important. it will take courage and determination, after 21 months it’s difficult but we’re going to be hit.”
quebec will also be opening up booster shots to the adult population in the new year, moving the interval between second and third doses from six months to three. the campaign will operate similarly to how it did for the first two doses in terms of priority. quebec hopes to protect the elderly, the vulnerable and health-care workers first.
booster shots will also be made available to those aged 60 and up earlier than planned. quebecers 65 and up will be eligible for their shots on monday, and those 60 and up will be eligible one week later.
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health minister christian dubé said the province has received a “very good reaction” to its call-out for people who can administer vaccines, and that he hopes that will mean quebec will be able to vaccinate people quickly. the goal is to administer 600,000 vaccines per week as of january.
it’s possible vaccinations in some regions will accelerate faster than others depending on how quickly they are able to vaccinate, he added.
the province is currently analyzing the possibility of incorporating the booster shot into the vaccine passport, but public health director dr. horacio arruda said it can’t be added until everyone has had a chance to get the shot.
thursday’s announcements came as a new analysis by the institut national de santé publique du québec found almost 20 per cent of quebec covid-19 cases were linked to the omicron variant. at the conference, legault said there were 3,700 positive covid-19 cases detected in the province so far on thursday.
education minister jean-françois roberge also announced he tested positive for covid-19 on thursday, and, ahead of the news conference, public health ordered the montreal canadiens to play with no fans at the bell centre.
“what’s important to say is in this battle we’re leading, vaccination isn’t sufficient,” legault said. “the second weapon we have is as simple as saying we have to be able to reduce our contacts, to be close to other people less often.”
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asked why the province didn’t act earlier given the situation in ontario and other countries, where omicron has spread at an alarming rate, arruda said “we knew it would come one day, but not necessarily at that level.”
dubé, for his part, said boosters weren’t offered to the general population earlier because those who are currently eligible haven’t been filling available appointments and because of the previous six-month interval between second and third doses for younger populations (though many people below the age of 70 received their second doses more than six months ago).
“we have received only this morning the ok to go below six months and we always listen to those recommendations of public health,” dubé said. “the minute we have (the ok) we are putting in place the vaccination to ramp up the capacity and we’ll go to the level we had this summer.”
in a statement following the conference, liberal leader dominique anglade said her party will eventually have questions about why “the caq government seems surprised and disorganized.”
“however, today i would like to share my solidarity with all quebecers, who will once again have to make significant sacrifices as the holiday season approaches,” she said.
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