The fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has infected about three million Quebecers to date, the province’s interim public health director said Wednesday.
Dr. Luc Boileau gave the latest estimate of novel coronavirus cases during the Omicron-fuelled surge that has hit Quebec hard since last December.
“The wave isn’t finished,” he said, but added the province is headed in the right direction as infections and hospitalizations fall.
Tracking the progression of the cases has been difficult during the latest wave since official PCR screening is limited to high-risk groups. Earlier this month, Boileau said nearly two million Quebecers had COVID-19 since the arrival of the contagious variant.
READ MORE: Quebec to lift classroom mask requirements for COVID-19 after March break
But with the latest studies and modelling, Boileau said that number now stands around three million.
“The Omicron wave was even stronger than we anticipated,” Boileau told reporters.
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The update comes after Montreal’s public health director said earlier in the day that at least one million people in the city contracted COVID-19 during the fifth wave. Dr. Mylène Drouin said officials estimate that about 30 per cent of the city’s population had the virus over the past two months.
The good news, Drouin said, is that all novel coronavirus indicators in Montreal appear to be on the downswing. Cases, hospitalizations and the positivity rate improved in recent weeks, she added.
“We are happy to be on the downward slope of this fifth wave,” Drouin told reporters at a news conference. “But we still have to maintain a certain caution.”
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As a result of the improving situation along with high vaccination rates in the city against the virus, Drouin said she is comfortable with the gradual lifting health restrictions. This includes easing the mask mandate in elementary and high school classrooms in March, which the province announced Tuesday.
But Drouin also urged Montrealers to keep their guards up. Anyone who feels unwell should take a rapid test and stay home if they have COVID-19 symptoms.
“We have vulnerable people and the virus is still circulating,” she said.
—with files from The Canadian Press
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