The Government of Canada has announced the lifting of additional border restrictions with regard to COVID-19. As of April 25, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children aged 5-11 who are accompanied by a fully vaccinated parent, step-parent, guardian or tutor will no longer be required to complete a pre-entry COVID-19 test for entry to Canada. The requirement to provide a quarantine plan upon entry to the country is also being lifted for fully vaccinated travelers, and for children 5-11 who are accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult. The changes also remove the requirement to monitor and report symptoms and maintain a list of contacts and locations visited, again for people who are considered fully vaccinated.
People entering the country are still required to provide documentation via the ArriveCAN app, and Pre-entry tests will still be required for partially vaccinated or unvaccinated travelers 12 and older who are currently eligible to travel to Canada. Children under 5 years of age are not required to provide a COVID-19 test result.
Last week Quebec announced that the requirement to wear masks in public spaces will continue to remain in place in the province until at least mid-May to allow time for the sixth wave to ebb.
Friday’s report on the COVID-19 situation in the province saw the overall number of people hospitalized with the virus in the province increase by only five, to 2,410. The proportion of those people who were in hospital specifically because of their Covid diagnoses also increased slightly, with the number going from 981 on Thursday to 989.
The overall number of people in intensive care with Covid across the province remained stable at 88, but the number in ICUs because of the virus decreased by one, to 57.
Despite the slowing rate of new hospitalizations, Quebec still reported 34 new Covid-related deaths on Friday, for a total of 14,812 since the start of the pandemic.
There were also 10,833 health care workers absent for Covid-related reasons throughout the entire network, going into the weekend.
After reaching a new peak of people in hospital with COVID-19 on Thursday, the number of hospitalizations in the Eastern Townships decreased by nine on Friday to 161 with four in intensive care. Although lower than the 170 recorded on Thursday, this number was still higher than at any other point in the Pandemic other than January of 2022.
The number of Covid-related deaths in the region also increased by six on Friday, bringing the total for the Townships to 575.
