However, Boileau urged “vigilance” as many Quebec residents prepare to meet with the family, including elderly parents and grandparents. “If we have symptoms, we do not go. If we have symptoms and 10 days have not passed, we will not go,” Boileau told a virtual news conference. He also urged people to cut back on contact with vulnerable family members in the days before scheduled visits to avoid catching and transmitting the virus. Boileau said there are currently 1,600 people with COVID-19 in the hospital and forecasts suggest that number could continue to rise over the next two weeks. However, officials do not expect the number of people in hospitals with COVID to reach the 3,140 peak reached in January. While the sixth wave was initially caused by incidents in eastern Quebec, the situation in Gaspé, the Magdalen Islands and the North Coast has stabilized. However, outbreaks in Lower Saint Lawrence, Saguenay – Lac-St-Jean, Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec City and Mauricie – Center-du-Québec are on the rise, while Montreal, eastern cities and the Outaouais region are all ‘more affected’ Than two weeks ago. However, Boileau said there was no intention of taking new measures or extending the mask’s mandate for public spaces beyond the end of April, at least for now. “It is the broadcast that will decide,” he said.

Boileau said the new data suggest that tamponade of both cheeks and back of the neck, before tamponade of both nostrils, could yield faster, more accurate test results. Scientific advisers in Ontario have been recommending this practice since February. Details of the new testing process are available on the Quebec Government’s website for COVID-19 and in a training video. CLOCKS New procedure for using fast tests:

The Ministry of Health explains the new procedure of rapid examination

Dr. Jean Longtin, a microbiologist at the Quebec Department of Health, describes the new rapid sampling process for COVID-19 that appears in a government video. 0:58
Dr. Jean Longtin, a microbiologist at the Department of Health, urged people to stay isolated if they had symptoms, even if their first rapid test was negative. “The virus reaches its peak around the third or fourth day,” he said. “If people only do one test, too early, and do not repeat it, it can give a false negative result.”

Healthcare workers could return to work after 6 days

With 13,000 healthcare workers missing from the system, some healthcare centers choose to return sick employees back to work early, as long as they have a negative test. “In an ideal world, people would be isolated for 10 days,” Longinus said. “We offer the hospitals where the services are affected the opportunity to check the employees after six days and bring them back.” CLOCKS The health care system treats absences of employees, increase of hospitalizations:

Boileau says healthcare system will be “difficult” in the coming weeks

The interim director of public health of Quebec, Dr. Luc Boileau says that while hospitals and long-term care facilities may face challenges during the sixth wave, he believes they will be able to meet them. 0:58
Boileau said healthcare employers who bring workers back early should do so in a way that protects patients and other employees. “Our main concern is to be able to protect people at risk but also to protect the accessibility of the healthcare system,” he said. “We know it’s a difficult journey … and we expect it to be difficult in the coming days or weeks.”

Boileau apologizes for Bill 28’s “inappropriate” comments

Boileau apologized Friday for comments he made this week during a legislative hearing on Bill 28, the CAQ government bill to end the public health emergency, while retaining some powers to manage the pandemic. . Asked by Claire Samson, an independent MNA affiliated with the Quebec Conservative Party, about the need to retain those powers, Boileau said the immediate withdrawal of all public health measures would “kill people”. “If we stop all this now, we will run into huge dangers and kill people. We have to be realistic,” he said on Wednesday. Boileau said Friday that he regretted using the words, calling them “inappropriate.” However, he said the lifting of special measures to allow vaccination and testing facilities to operate would put vulnerable people at risk. “We are not there yet. We can not do that. There are too many dangers for the population,” he said.