COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know Friday

• Quebec reported 1,101new caseson Thursdayand 33 more deaths.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been267,773confirmed cases and 9,973people have died (one death was removed from the total as it was found to be unrelated to COVID-19).
• There are 1,040people in hospital (a decreaseof 30), including 168in intensive care (adecrease of seven).
• 4,140 doses ofvaccine were administered Thursday. A total of 248,673doses have been administered since Dec. 14, accounting for threeper cent of the population.

The Quebec government is analyzing a proportion of COVID-19 cases using samples provided by testing to identify the presence of coronavirus variants.

The province's public health director, Dr. Horacia Arruda, says a small proportion of those samples were being analyzed since the spring, but that the government is increasing its capacity to do so to 8.5 per cent of cases with the goal of reaching 10 per cent.

So far, he said, eight casesof the highly infectious straindiscovered in the United Kingdom have been identified.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Christian Dubdecried a slowdown in vaccine roll out from the federal government, saying it has caused Quebec to all but stop vaccinating.

"We're ready, we have mass vaccination centres set up,"Dubsaid at provincial update on the pandemic Friday. "It's as if we had a powerful, brand new car, but had no gas."

He said the government was hanging on the federal government promise of more doses March 31, but added the province took adelivery of 38,000 doses from Modernaearlier today.

Encouraged bya downward trend in COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations, the province recently gave hospitals the green light to ramp up surgical activities, but the backlog of cases that has piled up during the first and second waves of the pandemic is daunting.

As it stands, the names of roughly 140,000 Quebecers are currently on a waiting list for surgery. According to the Ministry of Health, about a third nearly 44,000 people have waited longer than six months.

"I don't think that's going to be easily overcome in the next year," said Dr. Ruth Chaytor, the chief of surgical services at the Jewish General Hospital. "We've lost a lot of resources, a lot of trained individuals and a lot of experience."

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dub is speaking at 11 a.m. today to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in the province. He is expected to address that state of testing, the spread of variants and vaccination progress. You can watch it here live.

Yesterday, Quebec's Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann announced more details on the province's plan for a gradual return to class for CEGEPs, colleges, and universities.

Starting next week, students in red zones can head back several times a month, ideally once a week, regardless of their program of study, she said.Classroom capacity is being capped at 50 per cent for theory classes, with no limit on practical classes (such aslabs) and everyone must maintain a 1.5-metre distance and wear a mask.

Institutionsare expected to maintain distance learning for students who cannot, or choose not to, return to campus for in-person classes.

Out of the Dark: Small steps

4 years ago

Duration 1:00

It can be tough to know at what point struggling with sadness becomes more than you can bear on your own.

If you have been feelingisolated, we'vecompiledsome ways to help cope as part ofa special CBC Quebec project calledOut of the Dark: Real Talk on Mental Health.

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