Quebec long term care homes free of COVID-19 as 105 new cases reported in province

MONTREAL – There were zero new or active cases of COVID-19 in Quebec’s long-term care homes on Tuesday, as the province surpassed the million mark of second doses given.

Thousands of people died in long-term care facilities during the pandemic’s first and second waves, with dozens of homes at a time reporting major outbreaks.

As of June 13, the CHSLD Aime-Leduc, southwest of Montreal, was the only establishment reporting an active case, but that institution was removed from the latest list of infected care homes published Tuesday.

Dr. Jasmin Villeneuve, a medical adviser with the province’s health institute, credited the fact that 95 per cent of residents have received a first vaccine dose and 84 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Villeneuve said health workers also have a better understanding of the virus now, and fewer people are bringing COVID-19 into the homes due to lower transmission rates overall.

“The knowledge we gained, it helps us a lot to protect ourselves,” Villeneuve said.

The data comes as the number of cases in the province continued to decline, with 105 new cases in the previous 24-hour reporting period and six additional deaths.

Hospitalizations declined by five to 209, while the number of people in intensive care fell by four to 50.

The province reported having administered just under 87,000 doses in the last 24 hour period, and said early Tuesday afternoon that it had crossed the one million mark for second doses.

As of late Tuesday morning 78 per cent of Quebecers 12 and over had received a first dose, and 14 per cent a second.

While the vaccination campaign is advancing well, Health Minister Christian Dube warned Tuesday that some age groups were dragging their feet on getting the shot.

Dube told a news conference that about a third of eligible Quebecers between the ages of 18 and 39 have yet to receive a first dose or make an appointment.

He said it’s key for that age group, which tends to have a high number of contacts, to get vaccinated in order to prevent a possible fourth wave of cases in the fall.

With only about 30 per cent of the global population vaccinated and contagious variants circulating, “we need to be conscious that there will be pressure to potentially have a fourth wave,” Dube told a news conference.

“What we do control is how we are vaccinated. The more we are vaccinated, the more we will be able to face whatever will happen.”

Dube announced that people who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines for their first shots will now be able to move up their appointments for second doses on the provincial portal when their age group becomes eligible.

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients have already started to become eligible, in descending order of age, to rebook second dose appointments for as little as eight weeks after the first.

Dube said that people who received AstraZeneca for their first shot will be offered the option of receiving Pfizer or Moderna for their second when they arrive for their appointments.

He said Quebecers who have yet to receive a vaccine proof by email will be able to download it themselves from the province’s website.

The proof, which is currently delivered in QR code form, will likely become part of a vaccine passport system that is being negotiated with the federal government, Dube said.

That passport could eventually allow fully vaccinated Canadians to skip quarantine requirements when they return to the country from abroad _ something Dube called a “key advantage” of vaccination.

As the number of new COVID-19 cases drops, the Quebec government announced it will lower the COVID-19 alert level in three regions next week.

As of Monday, the Bas-Saint-Laurent, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Mauricie and Centre-du-Quebec regions will shift from yellow to green on the province’s pandemic alert system.

The move means that up to 10 people or three residences can gather indoors, among other changes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2021