The 4th wave lands just before the start of the school year

The increase in the latest COVID-19 cases triggers a fourth wave in Quebec, while the situation is likely to worsen at the beginning of the school year in a few weeks.

Also read: Wave 4: Soon the vaccine confirms the passport, legalt

“I don’t expect the number of cases to increase so quickly, it will start before school starts,” admitted Benoit Barbo, a virologist at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

More than 300 cases

On Thursday, Premier Franசois Legalt confirmed at a news conference that the province was actually entering the fourth wave of COVID-19.

In recent weeks, the number of daily cases has been increasing. As of Thursday, 305 new infections had been reported.

It has been more than two months since Quebec crossed this bar.

However, two weeks ago, many experts said they expected a fourth wave to come at the end of August and the beginning of the school year.

“To my surprise, we still have a good vaccination rate. We are concerned about this increase,” said Christian Jacob, president of the Association des Microbiologist du Quebec.

In comparison, only 150 cases were reported on this date last year. However, the vaccine has not yet been launched.

To t^Re Nimâ Machouf, epidemiologist, shows how contagious this condition is to the delta variant.

“The virus has not disappeared, it still exists, and it finds a pickpocket among people who have not been vaccinated,” he explained. Now they have to be careful. Vaccines are free and available. Note that 90% of victims in the last week of July were not fully vaccinated.

“It may explode”

According to Jacob, we should expect an increase in cases if more control measures are not withdrawn.

In addition, the start of the school year will facilitate the spread of the virus due to internal contacts.

“It could explode, dropping D^Re Machouf. We are not on the wave yet, but to not get there, we need to act quickly. “

“The school will be a potential catalyst to increase the number of cases,” said D.C.^R. Carl Weiss, microbiologist at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.

Currently, 60 victims in Quebec have been hospitalized, 16 of whom are in intensive care.

Evolution of COVID-19 Infections

Daily cases 10 days

• July 25: 70
• July 26: 109
• July 27: 135
• July 28: 132
• July 29: 102
• July 30: 223
• July 31: 149
• 1^{There is} August: 133
• August 2: 191
• August 3: 195
• August 4: 305

Cases are active for 10 days

• July 25: 878
• July 26: 897
• July 27: 952
• July 28: 990
• July 29: 984
• July 30: 1094
• July 31: 1131
• 1^{There is} August: 1150
• August 2: 1233
• August 3: 1334
• August 4: 1472

Source: Quebec National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ)