In Quebec, 110 CHSLDs and 54 hospitals in Quebec are dealing with active COVID-19 outbreaks. In society in general, the positivity rate has been steadily increasing since April.
Published at 2:30 a.m. Updated at 7:00 a.m.
This is what the latest data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec indicates.
As of August 20, 1,220 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized – 138 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 and 1,082 others had contracted it in hospital.
The positivity rate in Quebec is 21.4%, while it was only 2.1% at the beginning of April.
Although transmission is on the rise, emphasizes Francis Martel, media relations at the Ministry of Health and Social Services, “no change in the clinical presentation or severity of the disease has been identified to date.”
Vulnerable populations (people aged 60 and over, people suffering from one or more chronic illnesses as well as those with a weakened immune system) nevertheless remain at greater risk of becoming very ill, the Ministry points out.
Public authorities leave it up to each health facility to require or not that visitors wear masks depending on its own epidemiological situation. But for staff, it’s the same old story for all the protective equipment.
Mr. Martel emphasizes that as the start of the school year approaches, the Ministry of Health and Social Services is monitoring “the epidemiological situation closely,” even if the current situation no longer requires isolation measures or travel restrictions, for example.
Details of the next vaccination campaign will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Dr. Anne Gatignol, a virologist and professor of microbiology at McGill University, notes that COVID-19 “does not follow seasonality like influenza viruses or RSV which have peaks of infection in the winter.”
“Certain collective immunity”
With most people having received the vaccine and contracting COVID-19, “we have reached a certain herd immunity.”
The current rebound “is likely due to waning immunity, as the last boosters were given more than six months ago (October-December 2023). In addition, only a small percentage of the population has received this booster,” estimates Dr. Gatignol.
The virus “will not disappear,” she adds, “but the symptoms are less and less severe thanks to our immunity,” although caution is advised for vulnerable people.
These groups of people “should protect themselves when in contact with potentially infected people – who have symptoms of a cold or any other respiratory infection,” recalls Dr. Gatignol.
She believes that a person who has symptoms of respiratory illness should not visit elderly people or, if absolutely necessary, make sure to wear a mask.
Finally, she explains that all the viruses currently circulating are lineages and sub-lineages derived from the Omicron variant which appeared at the end of 2021.
“The vaccines that will be available in the fall will protect against these new lineages,” concludes Dr. Gatignol.
