Quebec Will Report Around 9,000 New COVID-19 Cases On Thursday, Crushing Previous Record
Premier François Legault noted the numbers during his Wednesday evening news conference.
On Wednesday night, Premier François Legault and his colleagues at the health ministry announced that the province will count around 9,000 cases on Thursday morning.
"We're seeing an exponential rise in cases," said Legault, detailing Omicron's stunning impact on cases in recent days to drive home the severity of the current situation.
"We think that in the next few days, there could be a notable rise in hospitalizations," added the premier.
Despite rumours of a curfew, there was no suggestion that there's one on the horizon. Legault didn't rule out adding "additional measures" in the coming days, but for now, the premier said he believes the current measures are enough to not overload the health network.
With soaring COVID-19 case counts thanks to the Omicron variant, the government ruled that after December 25, only six people or two bubbles will be allowed to gather in a single house. Until then, up to 10 people can gather if they wish, but Legault strongly discouraged that.
In addition, Legault recommended that Quebecers have only one Christmas celebration — either on the 24th or the 25th.
On December 22, the province recorded 6,361 new cases and 445 total hospitalizations. There have been 501,698 cases officially reported in Quebec since the beginning of the pandemic – not including Thursday's pending case count.
Health minister Christian Dubé noted that even though Omicron is a huge concern, its degree of severity is still unclear.
"The majority of people who are in hospitals today [...] have the Delta variant. We haven't seen the Omicron effect," said the health minister.