While the key to the fight against the pandemic lies in the detection and detection of the virus in particular, Quebec is struggling to test the population as the Omicron variant continues to spread like wildfire.
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According to Professor Roxanne Borges da Silva from the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal, it is difficult to know exactly the picture of the epidemic in the province under the current circumstances.
“We do not know how many people are currently infected. The number of cases is no longer a reliable indicator. What is certain is that of course we have a lot of infected people who are asymptomatic, so they don’t know they are infected. We certainly have people who have done rapid tests who have confirmed COVID. And we have people who don’t want to stand in line for two or four hours to get tested and who stay at home, which is understandable,” explains M.Me Borges da Silva.
She believes that at present the only reliable indicator of omicron transmission is hospitalization.
Thus, because there is a paucity of data and information on the number of cases, it becomes difficult to model the epidemic, but also difficult to forecast.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a reliable idea of the number of cases, and therefore hospitalizations become more difficult to predict. Today we also see that we are more cautious 4 with about fifty beds, which means We will increase load shedding and stop all non-urgent and semi-urgent surgeries,” she says.
MMe Da Silva believes that the population should take as much responsibility as possible to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“We are currently in a very critical state of crisis. We must hope that the entire population of Quebec takes responsibility and minimizes their contacts. Because we can see it’s dramatic, the number of people infected. Even if the Omicron version is less virulent, the law of large numbers means that if we have 20,000 cases, we have to have additional hospitalizations… we must be absolutely careful,” he emphasizes. She says by giving
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