Quebec 'can't afford' to ease public health measures, even as COVID-19 hospitalizations plateau, says premier
CBC
Despite growing pressure to ease public health restrictions as the number of Quebecers in hospital with COVID-19 begins to level off, Premier François Legault said Thursday it's still too early to ease restrictions imposed during this fifth wave of the pandemic.
"For the moment, we can't afford to lift public health measures," he said. Doing so would pose a significant risk of once again increasing transmission and hospitalizations, "which we can't do," he said.
The premier said Quebec's health-care network remains too fragile, with 12,000 health workers still absent from their jobs.
WATCH | Legault says it's too soon to ease health restrictions
The Quebec Health Ministry reported more than 3,411 people in hospital with COVID-19 Thursday, down 14 from Wednesday, and Legault told Quebecers at an afternoon news conference the latest wave of infections appears to have reached its peak.
"The situation remains very difficult at the moment," he said.
Earlier Thursday, Ontario announced restaurant dining rooms, gyms and bars will reopen at the end of January to a limited number of customers. Premier Doug Ford said the plan is to lift most remaining measures by mid-March.
Legault was flooded with questions about why Quebec isn't following Ontario's lead.
The premier responded that the situation in Quebec's health-care system is different than the one Ontario is facing and that there is still "a lot of uncertainty" about COVID-19 trends in the province.
"Where will we be in two days, two weeks?" he asked.
Quebec's 10 p.m. curfew was lifted on Monday, and stores are once again free to open on Sundays. But most other pandemic restrictions, such as the closure of restaurant dining rooms and the ban on indoor gatherings of more than one household, remain in place.
If the province stays at its current level of admissions, Legault says it won't need to move to "Plan B," the latest contingency plan to cut services revealed earlier this week, as more and more Quebec hospitals surpassed the maximum number of beds set aside for COVID-19 patients.
Quebec's hospitals should continue to see pressure ease, according to projections from Quebec's national health-care research institute.
The Institut national d'excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) said Thursday it expected around 200 new admissions a day by the end of January. Quebec has been recording between 296 and 470 new hospital admissions for COVID-19 patients daily over the past week.
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