by: katelyn thomas, montreal gazette
quebecers who are concerned about rising covid-19 case numbers across the province can be doing more to protect themselves and the public than what the government has mandated, a montreal infectious-disease specialist says.
“what they’re recommending is the minimum. i know a lot of people who are taking it upon themselves to do more than that,” said dr. donald vinh from the mcgill university health centre. “i would encourage people to do that same thing — which is, just keep in mind these are just guides.”
vinh’s advice is shared by officials in quebec, who — despite allowing private gatherings of up to 10 people until sunday, when that number was reduced to six — have been urging quebecers to limit their contacts.
on monday, public health director dr. mylène drouin asked montrealers on twitter to limit contacts in order to reduce pressure on the health-care network after covid-19 hospitalizations reached 614 in the province, the highest figure recorded since april.
in a tweet, health minister christian dubé said hospitalizations had gone up by 141 over the last four days. of those in hospital, 109 were in intensive care.
quebec’s seven-day rolling average for infections climbed to an all-time high of 8,020 on monday after the province reported another 8,231 cases of covid-19 — its fourth-highest single-day tally since the start of the pandemic. there have been 546,436 infections in the province since the first one was reported in february 2020.