Quebec extends mask mandate until April 30, for now: Dr. Luc Boileau

Quebec is extending its mask mandate until at least April 30, for now, said interim public health director Dr. Luc Boileau at a press conference Tuesday.

“We’re asking to continue to wear the mask for a couple of weeks,” he said.

Boileau says that decision will be reevaluated.

“There are a lot of infections, everyone knows someone who is infected,” said Boileau in French. “It’s a virus hitting a lot of people.”

The initial plan was to end masks in public spaces April 15 if the epidemiological situation allowed for it, and keep them for public transit until at least early May.

But as Quebec is in a sixth wave with cases and hospitalizations rising, Boileau said it was the right thing to do and masks are an effective tool to limit COVID-19 transmission.

“We do not want to expect the mask will be needed after the month of April,” Dr. Boileau said. “We’re hoping that adding two weeks of this mandatory proposal will be fair enough, but we have to wait and see how the progression of this wave will be.”

He explained the BA.2 subvariant is circulating at a high rate, with 75 per cent of cases in the province being attributed to it. The province at a 20 per cent positivity rate, so one in five that are tested are infected with COVID.

Currently only Quebec, P.E.I. and Nunavut still require masking in public places, with the latter two scheduled to end their mandates within the next week.

“We do understand that we are the only one in North America, which is something that might be seen as a plus or a minus, but from our point of view, it’s a good thing that we can still use the mask to prevent the spreading,” Dr. Boileau said.

Boileau also announced those 70 and over can start taking appointments for their fourth dose as of Wednesday, and 60-plus as of April 11.

“I’m not entirely surprised by these announcements. I think when you have cases surging the way they are to get rid of the mask mandate in the middle of an upswing of cases and hospitalizations doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. We know this is a respiratory virus. We know the virus is circulating widely in the population. And we know that masks block the transmission of the virus. They help,” said Dr. Christopher Labos, epidemiologist and cardiologist. “They aren’t perfect, but they help considerably. So to get rid of something that is of low cost and has no downsides doesn’t make a lot of sense when you’re trying to limit the number of people who get sick and end up in hospital.”

The province’s COVID-19 hospitalizations dipped below 1,000 in mid-March but have been climbing steadily in recent days, reaching 1,479 in the last 24 hours – with a major increase of 72 patients and 31 more deaths.

Dr. Boileau says the situation in hospitals is under control, even if almost 11,000 health workers in the system are out sick.

Hospitals saw 219 new entries and 147 discharges. Of those, 69 are in ICU, that number stable – 15 newly admitted and 15 released.

Quebec now with 14,442 fatalities since the pandemic began.

Vaccination rates:

-65 per cent of Quebecers 5 to 11 have gotten one dose, 47 per cent with two

-91 per cent of Quebecers 5+ with one dose, 87 per cent with two shots

-53 per cent of those 18+ have gotten a booster

-13K+ doses administered last 24 hours, 18.7M+ total so far

For more: Quebec.ca