9,397 New COVID-19 Cases Reported In Quebec As Omicron Continues To Pummel The Province

Quebec achieved another troubling record in terms of the number of new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. As the Omicron variant strain continues to pummel the province, the health ministry reported 9,397 new cases, shattering every previous record.

Six more people died. 28 additional hospitalizations were reported, with three more in intensive care. The total number of hospitalizations now stands at 473, with 91 people in intensive care.

With case count records being broken every day, the government moved to add some new health regulations. On Wednesday night, Premier François Legault announced that Quebec will limit the number of people allowed to gather in private homes to six people or two households starting December 26.

Legault also asked Quebecers to only have one Christmas celebration this year and to postpone if possible. The government expressed hope that people will take Omicron's surge into consideration before proceeding with any holiday plans.

"We believe that the measures in place will keep the situation under control, but if we see that we need to do more, we won't hesitate to do it," Legault said.

As one of the more infectious variants, transmission is considered much more likely when gathering in large numbers.

"It's a question of judgement — ideally, you stay at home [...] if you stay at home, there is almost no risk," underlined the premier at Wednesday's press conference.

As of Thursday, there was a total of 511,095 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Quebec since the beginning of the pandemic. A total of 11,658 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded. As of December 22, 14,619,762 vaccine doses had been administered to Quebecers.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.