Wearing a mask indoors will remain compulsory at least until the end of April in Quebec, the acting national director of public health, Luc Boileau, announced on Tuesday.
“As most of the measures have been lifted, we preferred to have a more cautious approach” due to the sixth wave of COVID-19he said at a press briefing.
Quebec is the only province where wearing a mask remains compulsory, but it is an “acceptable constraint in the current situation”, he argued. “I am in contact with other public health leaders in Canada and there are many who would like to bring them back, these measures, because they are not very demanding and they allow to maintain some control over the evolution of the pandemic,” said Dr.r Boileau. He underlined “the luck” that Quebec has to have kept these measures.
The public health expert also announced that the government expand access to the fourth dose of the vaccine against COVID-19. Quebecers aged 70 and over will be able to make an appointment for a second booster dose, through Clic Santé, starting Wednesday. Those aged 60 and over will be able to do the same from April 11.
“There will surely be a vaccination campaign” for the general population in the fall, also advanced the Dr Jean Longtin, microbiologist and clinical expert from the Ministry of Health.
At the moment, “there is an immunity that is setting in”, recalled the Dr Boileau. “However, this immunity does not persist over time and does not prevent other contagions and other serious manifestations of the disease. “Result:” we can not say “here, now, we have nothing more to do, we have reached collective immunity and it’s over forever”, “he illustrated.
At least two more weeks
On March 2, the Legault government had announced that the mask would no longer be required in public places, with the exception of public transport, by mid-April at the latest. However, now the “situation of pandemic growth” in which Quebec finds itself has turned the plans upside down.
The Dr Boileau said he was unable, at this stage, to predict when the peak of infections will be reached in Quebec. “To know if this peak will be reached at Easter, after Easter or before Easter, that is very difficult. There are variations in the territory “recalled the expert, adding that this makes the work of forecasting more difficult.
The government has in the context sent a “call for caution” to people aged 60 and over. “Living with the virus does not mean forgetting it”, also insisted the Dr Boileau.
He recalled that despite the instructions on isolation — now reduced to five days —, the population must remain aware “that one can be contagious for 10 days” and limit their social contacts accordingly.
The number one public health officer in Quebec said he had “no intention” of recommending the imposition of new measures – “closures or anything” – on the government. “We’re not here. It’s a wave that was expected. […] We would have liked to do without it, but it is there: 75% of all the cases we have in Quebec are [variant] BA.2,” he pointed out.
As Easter approaches and in the middle of Ramadan, the Dr Boileau said he preferred to trust the judgment of Quebecers rather than limit gatherings. “People can make their own choices, I think they [peuvent être] cautious enough to handle an infection,” he said in English.
A sixth wave “intangible for many”
According to the latest survey on the attitudes of Quebec adults of the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ), the population is “a little less optimistic” than before about the end of the pandemic crisis, but it does not adhere more to health measures, reports Ève Dubé, scientific adviser and medical anthropologist within the institution.
“Generally, when we observed greater risk perceptions, we also observed that people adhered more to the measures,” she says. There, we are still in a situation where people say to themselves “OK, things may not be going so well”, but we do not yet see any translation in behavior. We are talking about the sixth wave, we are talking about increasing cases, but it is still intangible for many. »
The INSPQ conducted its survey from March 18 to 30, before the press briefing by Dr Boileau on Tuesday. Slightly more than 50% of adults surveyed said they were in favor of the wearing of a mask no longer being mandatory in Quebec. About 60% also indicated that they intended to continue wearing it even when it is no longer mandatory.
As for private gatherings, the Quebecers surveyed believe that banning them is one of the least effective preventive measures against COVID-19. “Having friends or family at home or going to visit is one of the things people are very comfortable with,” adds Ève Dubé.
The researcher notes in the population a “pandemic fatigue” and a “fatigue in relation to changes in the recommendations” of Public Health.
The fact of having been infected with COVID-19 during the holiday season “also plays a lot” on the perception of risk, she underlines. “We know that the more we are afraid of a disease, the more we will want to protect ourselves from it,” she recalls. However, many Quebecers have contracted Omicron in recent months. So they are “maybe a little bit less concerned” about the disease or feel protected against infection, she said.
With Marie-Eve Cousineau