The whole of Quebec heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday when it heard the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, announce that gatherings of 20 people will be authorized during the Christmas period as a “reward” for the vaccinated.
He assured that this easing had nothing to do with the wish that Prime Minister Legault had expressed with an insistence that resembled a warning to anyone who dared to play Grinch.
Despite the significant rise in new cases of COVID-19, the National Director of Public Health, Dr.r Horacio Arruda, too, overcame his initial hesitations. He now speaks of a “calculated risk” which is justified by the stability of hospitalizations. So much the better if health and politics are equally beneficial.
It is undoubtedly to be congratulated that the epidemiological situation spared us the gloomy holiday season of last year, but it is clear that the number of new cases remains systematically higher in Quebec than in Ontario, not only per 100 000 inhabitants, but also in absolute figures.
While the neighboring province has twice as many inhabitants, there were 1,009 new cases on Wednesday, compared to 1,367 in Quebec. It is possible that the screening is less precise, but the sickest still end up in the hospital. However, in proportion to the population, hospitalizations remain significantly lower in Ontario.
In the National Assembly, the opposition parties continue to harass the government, which they blame for its poor management of the first wave, more particularly the slaughter that occurred in the CHSLDs in the spring of 2020.
The Prime Minister may repeat ad nauseam that he did his best with the information at his disposal, it remains a bit short when 4000 elderly people have died, often in inhuman conditions.
To those who demand the holding of an independent public inquiry, he replies that several inquiries into CHSLDs have already been carried out or are still in progress and he reproaches them for not trusting those who lead them.
Each week that passes raises new questions about this dark period that we will have to answer one day, but we also need to know why, while we are now in the fifth wave, Quebec is still a dunce in front of its neighbor. .
In general, however, the Legault government adopted health measures that were more hasty and more restrictive than elsewhere in Canada. The vaccination campaign has been touted as a model of effectiveness, and the vaccination rate is one of the highest in the world. Not to mention the “solidarity” and “courage” of Quebecers, which Mr. Legault never ceases to praise.
During the first wave, we wondered about the “mystery of Toronto”. We talked about the earlier spring break here than in Ontario, the greater entry of illegal migrants, the staff shortage, the Barrette reform and what else? Quebec regained the upper hand thanks to the curfew that Doug Ford did not dare to impose at home, but it did not last.
Or, there is still a lack of nurses, and information is still circulating poorly in the health network, as evidenced by the incredible episode of inspection reports in CHSLDs. What undoubtedly poses a problem within the establishments cannot however explain that the contagion in the community remains more important than in Ontario.
The Montreal regional public health department reported on Tuesday that the number of new cases in the workplace has almost doubled in two weeks in the metropolis. And the Omicron variant has not yet started circulating in Quebec.
We should not be under any illusions: before being rid of it, we will have to continue to live with the virus for a good while. All the more reason to draw inspiration from best practices. Much has been learned since the onset of the pandemic, and thanks to vaccination, the number of COVID-related deaths is ten times lower than last year. However, some do even better than us.
Mr. Legault consoles himself by referring to the situation in Europe, but it is to Ontario that he compares Quebec when it comes to the economy. Reducing the wealth gap between the two has even become a real obsession. In his recent update, the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, predicts that it will be filled in 2035-2036. Hopefully the health gap will be faster.