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

• Quebec reported 672new cases ofCOVID-19 on Wednesday and one new death.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 431,612confirmed cases and 11,529people have died.
• There are 220people in hospital (an increase of one),including 45in intensive care (no change).
• The province has administered 13,350,764doses of theCOVID-19 vaccine, including 10,487in the past 24 hours.
• 91per cent of the eligible population in the province (age 12 and up) hasreceived one dose of vaccine, and 87per cent hasreceived two doses.

Note:Quebec'sHealth Ministry does not publish the number of vaccines administered on weekends and public holidays.

Some Canadians who crossed the U.S.border have successfullyre-entered Canada after getting free COVID-19 tests south of the border.

The land border with the United States recently reopenedto fully vaccinated Canadian travellers after being closed for non-essential travel since March 2020.

The Canadian government requires anegative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hoursfor recreational travellers upon their return to Canada. It will only accept a molecular test,such as a PCR test,which can cost upward of $200 dollars.

But some U.S. pharmacy chains, including Walgreens, are offering free, self-administered Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) tests, which are recognized by Canadian border officials.

However, the tests aren't available at every location, and clients aren't guaranteed results within the 72-hour window.

Court upholds vaccine passport

A Quebec Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a request to suspend the province's COVID-19 vaccine passport system, ruling that there was little evidence suggesting the damage caused by the health order went beyond disappointment or inconvenience.

Lawyer Hans Mercier, who was vaccinated against COVID-19, and businessman Gaston Vachon, who wasn't, had requested for the judge to urgently suspend the health order while their challenge made its way through the court system.

They argued the passport system, imposed to reduce the spread of COVID-19, was a violation of people's charter rights, tore the social fabric of society and turned non-vaccinated people into social pariahs.

Justice Nancy Bonsaint said the complainants didn't prove that the province's vaccine passport system caused a serious or irreparable prejudice and needed to be immediately suspended.

Third vaccine doses for seniors

The Quebec government will allow people aged 70 and over to book an appointment for their third COVID-19 vaccine dose as of Nov. 16.

The province's immunization committee, the CIQ, has recommended that Quebecers in that age group be offereda third dose, in order to boost their immunity against the virus.

The appointments will roll out gradually. Six months have to have passed since the person's last COVID-19 vaccine dose in order for them to be eligible.

People who have had two doses of AstraZeneca will also soon beeligible to make an appointment for a third dose, this time of an mRNA vaccine,said Health Minister Christian Dubat a news conference Tuesday.

Nurses fed up with decrees

Quebec nurses say they are fed up with ministerial decrees that modify their working conditions, saying the measures do nothing to help combat the shortage of workers in the health-care system.

Five nurses' unions have come together to call on the government to drop the emergency decrees. They say 155 orders have been imposed during the pandemic, most of which directly impact nurses' jobs with little consultation with unions.

Nathalie Levesque, president of theFdration interprofessionnelle de la sant du Qubec (FIQ), says the decrees changed working conditions with no regard to staffers' expertise or their personal lives.

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