As the seventh wave of COVID-19 draws to a close in Quebec, should we already be preparing for an eighth?
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“The variant seems to be wearing itself out a bit in infecting people, the number of cases seems to be decreasing, but that does not leave us safe from an eighth wave”, believes Roxane Borgès Da Silva, professor at the School of public health from UdeM.
According to the specialist, this eighth wave could arise from the start of the school year.
“In fact, as soon as we return to class, we know that schools are closed spaces where distancing is very difficult to respect, we know that young people will not wear a mask, so these will be environments conducive to the spread of variants. . (…) It is likely to have a very strong contamination which will leave in the schools as soon as the start of the school year”, she explains.
She adds that the mask remains an inexpensive and very effective protective tool to counter the variants. It is up to the government to remind the population of this, according to the expert.
“What is certain is that there will have to be a good communication strategy from the government to explain to people that from the moment when, for a child, there is the slightest doubt about symptoms, it is absolutely necessary to put the mask back on even with a negative test, ”explains Ms. Borgès Da Silva.
The professor also recalls the importance of having a booster dose to prevent the spread of the virus and its variants.
“It’s very important to get the booster dose when it’s been more than five months, as recommended by Dr. Boileau, for several reasons. Immunity weakens after five months, then also, with this booster dose, with BA.5, it not only reduces the ability to contaminate the world around us, but also to develop serious symptoms”, thinks- she.
Watch the full interview in the video above.