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Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining in Quebec.
Publication date:
May 2, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 11 minutes reading Quebec Public Health Director Dr. Luke Boylo said last week that he would probably recommend ending mandatory masks in public places on May 14, although face coatings are still will be required in public transport and in hospitals and long-term care homes. Photo by Dave Sidway / Montreal Gazette
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Updated throughout the day on Monday, May 2. Questions / Comments: ariga@postmedia.com
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Top updates
- Problems with the supply chain are likely to continue in 2022, says the executive director of the Port of Montreal
- New Zealand further eases COVID measures, opening borders for another 60 countries
- The Ontario Health Coalition is calling on the province to restore mandatory indoor masks
- As the pandemic weakens, Quebec will decide whether the mandate for masks will fall on May 14.
- New York raises COVID alert to “medium” as caseload increases
- The new jet kit: How the private jet boom caused by COVID is still flying high
- Failure for the battle with COVID in Shanghai; Beijing is focusing on mass tests
- Booster doses: Many young adults choose not to receive third vaccines
- Hospitalizations are declining as Quebec reports 3 new deaths
- Quebec is re-investigating the NDG CHSLD following complaints about conditions there
- New Omicron sub-lines may avoid immunity from past infections, study finds
- Quebec has reached an agreement with family doctors to improve access to basic care
- Obligation to remember and act, as Quebec has over 15,000 deaths from COVID
- COVID kills fewer people, but Quebec still reports dozens of deaths each day
- Guide to COVID in Quebec: Vaccinations, testing
- Sign up for our free coronavirus nightly newsletter
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16:20
Thanks for reading
I will be back tomorrow with another live blog.
In the meantime, you can monitor our entire coverage through the coronavirus page.
My previous live blogs about COVID-19 are available here.
4 o’clock in the afternoon
Problems with the supply chain are likely to continue in 2022, says the executive director of the Port of Montreal
According to the head of the port administration in Montreal, congestion in the supply chain around the world is likely to continue for several months, and the containers will remain elusive, as always.
Major ports in North America and elsewhere are facing bottlenecks as demand for goods skyrockets after two years of limited pandemic-induced production in countries including China. These delays, together with the shortage of key components such as semiconductors, have contributed to accelerating global inflation. In the world of shipping, container prices have risen, rising fivefold from pre-pandemic levels.
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Read our whole story by Frederic Tomesco.
15:40
Booster after infection adds a little extra benefit to Omicron
From Reuters:
Among people who have previously been infected with coronavirus, a third dose of mRNA vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna may not increase their protection against the Omicron virus variant, according to new data.
Researchers studied nearly 130,000 people tested for COVID in Connecticut from November 2021 to January 2022, including 10,676 with Omicron infections.
Approximately 6% to 8% were infected with previous versions of the coronavirus, according to a report published on medRxiv prior to the peer review. Two doses of mRNA vaccine helped protect against Omicron in people with previous infections, but “we found no additional benefit from receiving a third booster dose in this population,” said Margaret Lind of Yale University.
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A separate study from Canada, also published in medRxiv prior to the peer review, similarly found that more than two doses of vaccine “may have little added value” to protect previously infected people against Omicron.
The message, Lind said, “should be that (1) people should receive two doses of mRNA vaccine, whether or not they have a previous infection, that (2) people without a previous infection should receive a booster dose, and that (3) people with previous infections should consider a booster dose, especially if they are in a high-risk group for life-threatening complications, but realize that it may not provide significant additional protection against infection over two doses.
14:55
New Zealand further eases COVID measures, opening borders for another 60 countries
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From Reuters:
New Zealand welcomed thousands of passengers from around the world on Monday as the country opened its borders to visitors from about 60 countries, including Canada, the United States, Britain and Singapore, for the first time since the COVID-19 crash in early 2020
Maori cultural singers sang songs at the entrance to Auckland, and passengers were given popular locally made chocolate bars as the first flights came from Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Friends and family hugged and cried as people reunited for what for some was the first time in more than two years.
Garth Halliday, who was waiting at the airport for his son, daughter-in-law and grandson to land in London, told local media that he had been happy and emotional to see so many families reunited.
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New Zealand had some of the toughest restrictions in the world during the pandemic and only recently began easing increasingly unpopular measures, hoping to boost tourism and alleviate labor shortages, and now the Omicron variant is widespread in the country.
In February and March, the borders were open to New Zealanders and Australians. Visitors from about 60 countries with revoked visas can now enter as long as they are vaccinated and have a negative COVID test. No insulation requirements.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told those attending the Auckland Business Summit that foreign visitors would indeed “return a piece that New Zealand and New Zealanders lacked.”
On Monday, 43 international flights were scheduled to arrive or depart from Auckland International Airport, carrying about 9,000 passengers.
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Air New Zealand’s chief customer and sales director Liane Geratti said demand had exceeded expectations, with many services being filled.
“This is welcome news for New Zealand’s tourism industry, which is withstanding a severe storm,” she said.
Tourists from a number of countries, including India and China, continue to be banned and will not be lifted until October.
14:40
The Ontario Health Coalition is calling on the province to restore mandatory indoor masks
RELEASE: Health and legal experts call for restoration of masking protections as Omicron – one of the most infectious viruses known – tears up the population of Ontario – Ontario Health Coalition https://t.co/WfSz1bMoB2
– Dr. Dick Zoutman (@DickZoutman) May 2, 2022
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14:20
As the pandemic weakens, Quebec will decide whether the mandate for masks will fall on May 14.
The people of Quebec will learn in the coming days – probably tomorrow – whether the broad mandate of the province’s mask will disappear on May 14.
Dr Luc Boalo, interim director of public health in Quebec, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Francois Lego and Health Minister Christian Dubet later today to make his final recommendation.
Last week, he said he would most likely recommend lifting restrictions on masks in public places, although face coverings will still be required on public transport and in hospitals and long-term care homes.
Boalo said he wanted to see how the situation unfolded before calling.
The latest update of the Quebec pandemic has provided good news on this front.
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On Monday:
- The number of new cases confirmed by PCR tests fell to its lowest level in seven weeks.
- Hospitalizations continue to decline and are now at their lowest point in more than two weeks.
- The province reports three deaths – the lowest one-day increase in deaths in five weeks.
Over the weekend, the number of deaths from a pandemic in Quebec exceeded 15,000.
To talk about the obligation to remember, colleague Rene Brumer spoke with a grief counselor, rabbi and researcher who studied the impact of pandemic restrictions on the bereaved.
The death rate in Quebec remains the highest in the country – 174 deaths per 100,000 people, according to The Canadian Press. There are 86 deaths per 100,000 people in Ontario. There were 102 in all of Canada.
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2 p.m.
It cites research showing that vaccine protection can pass through the umbilical cord to the fetus.
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12:15
New York raises COVID alert to “medium” as caseload increases
From the Bloomberg news agency:
IN…
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