Trying to protect hospitals, Quebec City health officials urge public to reduce contacts right now
CBC
While the province is allowing for gatherings of up to 10 people until Sunday, public health authorities in the Quebec City area are calling on residents to think twice before sending out Christmas dinner invites.
"Being allowed does not necessarily mean that it's desirable," Dr. André Dontigny, public health director for the Capitale Nationale region, said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The Quebec City area — as well as Chaudière-Appalaches to its south — reported record numbers of COVID-19 cases Thursday with 671 and 566 new cases respectively.
Hospitalizations in both regions are also on the rise. Quebec City saw 16 COVID-19 patients in hospital Thursday – triple the number of patients in hospital at the start of the week.
The vast majority of those patients, the health authority says, are over 60 and unvaccinated.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the Chaudière-Appalaches has doubled since last week for a total of 15.
"It's always hard to know how this will evolve but clearly, the reason we are here today is we fear that if we're not careful, the rise can be catastrophic with major impacts on the health-care system," said Dontigny.
The Chaudière-Appalaches is once again one of the regions hardest hit by the pandemic, with a 15 per cent positivity rate and 696 active cases per 100,000 residents.
"The epidemiological situation is critical," said Dr. Liliana Romero, the region's public health director, adding the situation is particularly serious in Thetford Mines and Saint-Georges.
"Reducing your number of contacts and getting the vaccine are primordial right now. We need to do this now, and not in January."
Romero said the region's low vaccination rate and dependence on workplaces that do not allow for teleworking, such as factories and farms, are the main reasons case numbers are so high.
Dr. Stéphane Bergeron, director of professional services and medical affairs for the CHU de Québec-Université Laval, said the region's health-care system is being attacked on two fronts right now.
Not only is there a sharp increase in the number of patients requiring care, he says, but the new variant is so transmissible it is putting a strain on the already dire staffing situation.
"It is undeniable that, within the current context, there will be a reduction of hospital services and activities both on the north and south shores. The level to which we reduce those services will depend on the response you give today and tomorrow to COVID," he said.
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