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

• On Wednesday, Quebec reported 3,270people in hospital (a decrease of eight from the previous day), including 252in intensive care (a decrease of 11the previous day).
• The province reported 4,150new cases of COVID-19 and 73deaths.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 845,564 confirmed cases and 13,009people have died.
• The province also reported Wednesday a total of17,537,540doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered, including 80,131in the last 24 hours.
• 90 per cent of the eligible population in the province (ages five and up) have received one dose of the vaccine, 83 per cent have received two doses, and 41per cent have received three doses.

The new cases are those reported to the Quebec government only. They are believed to be an underrepresentation of the virus's spread, given the limited availability of PCR tests and use of home testing kits.

Quebec Premier Franois Legaultannounced a slight easing of some restrictions Tuesday, even as daily deaths remain in the double-digits, the highest in Canada.

Restaurants will once again be allowed to reopen at half capacity as of Monday, Jan. 31. Up to four people from four different addresses,or a maximum of two family bubbles, will be allowed to share a table.

The same numbers will apply to indoor private gatherings, which will be allowed as of next Monday. Youth sports in schools will also be allowed to resume with somerestrictions.

But for the past month, as COVID-19 cases have soared across the country, Quebec has the most deaths per capita related to COVID-19 anywhere in Canada.

The government has argued that's because it counts deaths using a different methodology that detects more of the people who died than other provinces.

"Eventually we have to accept that we'll continue to have a certain number of deaths and we'll have to accept that we'll continue to have a certain number of people in our hospitals," said Legault.

WATCH | Quebec premier says province must learn to live with COVID:

Legault describes Quebec living with COVID-19 long-term

3 years ago

Duration 1:22

Living with COVID-19 long-term means accepting hospitalizations and deaths, says Quebec Premier Franois Legault.

Quebecers can now self-report rapid test results

Quebec's online portal where people can report the results of rapid tests fromCOVID-19 done at home is now online.

Health minister Christian Dub announcedthe creation of the portal earlier this month when access to PCR tests was limited to more high-risk populations. That has led to a massive underrepresentation of the actual number of Quebecers who've tested positive for Covid in the province's daily case counts.

The province is asking anyone who's had a rapid test to report the results, whether they're negative or positive.

The goal is to give the province a better portrait of the actual number of COVIDcases, and to allow health officials to track how many people are actually using rapid tests.

The province says the results will be for statistical use only and will not affect people's vaccination status.

No classes have been closed since return: ministry

Quebec Education Minister Jean-Franois Roberge said at a news conference Monday that he hasn't heard of anyschools or classrooms in Quebec that have been closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks since students returned to in-person learning last week.

Roberge said the ministry reached out to a number of school boards last week and there were no closures reported.

"One hundred per cent of our classes and our schools were open," Roberge said.

"It's possible that there are some exceptions at the margins,but the portrait that I have had of the past week so far is thatthe network is open as we wished," Roberge said.

With the return to class the province introduced new guidelines for managing outbreaks in schools.

Parents are no longer automatically informed in the event of positive COVIDcases in their child's school or class, and classes are only shut down if a minimum of 60 per cent of students arein isolation at any given time.

Roberge said students were expected to be in class, despite fears from some parents about a lack of transparency.

More pop up vaccination clinics coming

On Monday, Lionel Carmant, Quebec's junior health minister, announced the province will make an extra push to convinceunvaccinated Quebecers to get a shot.

He says there about 540,000 eligible Quebecers who have not had any vaccine.

Carmant says while some people are philosophically opposed to the vaccine, others would be willing to get their shots if the process was explained to them and access was easier. Pop-up vaccine clinics will begin next week and the province hopes to make inroads by the end of March.

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