Quebec Premier Francois Legault took a short break from the heaviness of his daily COVID-19 briefing to answer a question sent by video from a young girl about the tooth fairy. Legault assured that the tooth fairy falls in the category of an essential service, and added the fairy is immune to COVID-19 and can therefore continue visiting the homes of children who lose a tooth during the pandemic. While the premier had promised to provide projections on how the COVID-19 infection rate is likely to progress in the coming weeks, he explained that the information should come from scientists and have no political association, so a separate press conference with specialists from the health and scientific communities took place later in the afternoon.
As for current situation in Quebec, Legault said the number of confirmed cases is now 9,340, up 760 from the day before. Of those, 570 are in the Estrie region. There were 29 new deaths in the past day, bringing the total in the province to 150.
Legault added that there were 50 new hospitalizations, bringing the total to 583, but no increase intensive care. The number of intensive care patients remained stable at 164, promising news, according to the premier.
While Legault did not include other statistics, the Quebec Public Health Institute’s website lists 720 confirmed recoveries from COVID-19.
Legault announced during the briefing that because the number of hospitalizations is currently lower than expected, some staff from hospitals will be transferred to offer assistance in CHSLDs and seniors’ residences.
The biggest priority, according to Legault, is protecting the most vulnerable population. Close to 90 per cent of the deaths in the province have been patients aged 70 or older. With Easter coming up, Legault said Quebecers should resist the urge to host family gatherings.
“The battle isn’t over,” he said, asking community leaders to encourage the public to stay home this holiday weekend and check in by phone or video chat instead.
“We can’t ease our efforts,” Legault said.
Tooth fairy immune to COVID-19
By Matthew McCully
