Quebec to keep mask mandate in place until mid-May
CBC
Health Minister Christian Dubé has accepted a recommendation by the interim public health director to extend the mask mandate, set to be lifted at the end of April, to mid-May — even as the sixth wave of COVID-19 infections appears to be cresting.
Dubé's office put out a news release announcing that decision while Quebec's interim public health director, Dr. Luc Boileau, held an update on the COVID-19 situation in the province Thursday. Boileau called the latest pandemic projections "relative good news."
"It's encouraging to see that the number of hospitalizations should start to stabilize, and we're anticipating a reduction in new hospital admissions," Boileau said.
However, he urged Quebecers to remain prudent because of just how contagious the variants now in circulation are.
The mandate to wear masks in public places, including on public transit and in stores, had been extended until April 30, as the sixth wave of COVID-19 infections saw the number of people admitted to hospitals in Quebec soar once again.
Boileau said keeping that mandate in place for an extra two weeks should help prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by another resurgence of infections.
The number of health workers off the job due to COVID-19 infections also appears to be trending downward, Boileau said, although influenza infections are spreading throughout the health sector and the population as a whole.
"We are seeing an upsurge in the flu situation," Boileau said, noting such a surge was rare to see at this time of year.
Quebecers with flu symptoms should take the same precautions as they would for COVID-19, including isolating for five days after the onset of symptoms, wearing a mask to minimize contaminating others, and avoiding public gatherings and people at increased risk for the following five days, Boileau said.
According to the latest data, there are now 2,381 people in hospital in Quebec with COVID-19. The province also recorded 26 new deaths Wednesday.
Dr. Lucy Opatrny, Quebec's associate deputy health minister responsible for hospital services, who accompanied Boileau Thursday, said although that number is close to the number hospitalized during the fifth wave in February, hospitals haven't had to postpone surgeries and other services to the same extent.
Opatrny said most of the people in hospital with a COVID-19 diagnosis were admitted for other reasons, and in general, those who have been admitted because of the virus are experiencing fewer serious complications than were patients admitted during previous waves.
"A much lower percentage of people in hospital are being admitted to intensive care — five per cent — which is a lot less than before. Vaccination, which is more widespread, has helped with that," Opatrny said.
While hospitalizations have increased by 15 per cent over the past week, that percentage increase is lower than the increase in previous weeks, according to the health-care research institute, known by its French acronym as INESSS.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it has called off its search for a bear responsible for an attack on a group of school children in Bella Coola, B.C. on Nov. 20.
The union president called it a rally for solidarity as Iqaluit Housing Authority employees gathered Friday while negotiations are ongoing between the Nunavut Employees Union and the employer.
The federal government is stoking Quebec separatism by walking back its climate commitments — including in its recent deal with Alberta — Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Four more Alberta MLAs are facing recall petitions organized by their constituents, including the first NDP representative to be caught in the province's ongoing wave of recall efforts.
Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96.
Hundreds of P.E.I. parents can't find child-care spaces, especially for infants. The provincial government says expanding those spots remains a top priority — and it recognizes the concern.
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
The architect of Alberta's politician recall legislation says it was never meant to be used as a political weapon, but as an "ultimate tool of accountability" if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour.
The Government of Saskatchewan has introduced its long-promised involuntary treatment legislation on the final day of the fall sitting.