The decline in hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 continues in Quebec, but the number of cases is tending to stabilize. This stabilization comes as new variants cause a new surge in the United States and some countries in Europe.
Posted at 11:14 a.m.
Updated at 1:53 p.m.
On Friday, Quebec reported 10 new deaths, bringing the daily average calculated over seven days to nine. The trend is down 24% over one week.
The province also reported a decrease of 27 hospitalizations on Friday. The 1,288 people currently hospitalized represent a drop of 14% over one week. In intensive care, the 36 patients represent a decrease of 29% over one week.
The number of people in hospital is expected to continue to decline over the next few days, with the number of discharges continuing to outpace admissions. On average, there are 29 fewer patients every day.
The 590 new cases reported on Friday bring the daily average to 525. The trend seems to be stabilizing. These numbers likely reflect only a portion of total infections due to limited access to PCR testing. Moreover, the proportion of PCR screening tests proving positive for COVID-19 remains high, at 6.6%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 334 people have also reported in recent days having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, are stable over a week.
Variants under surveillance
This stabilization of cases in Quebec comes as the United States experiences a new wave, as well as certain countries in Europe. Recently, the BA.2.12.1 subvariant has become dominant south of the border, accounting for more than half of new cases. Its arrival on the US side has led to an upsurge in cases, as well as hospitalizations and deaths.
The presence of BA.2.12.1 is still weak in Quebec, although the sub-variant tends to take up more and more space. According to data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, it represented 8.7% of the cases sequenced in the province during the week of May 15. This is double the previous week.
At the Jewish General Hospital, infectious disease specialist Dr.r Matthew Oughton calls on Quebec authorities to “monitor the BA.2.12 variant” to ensure that it does not cause an increase in cases like what we are currently seeing in the United States.
“For now however, I believe that people seeing an explosion of cases like we have seen in the past, in Quebec, are relatively small. That said, does that mean that we are eventually safe from another wave? No way. This variant deserves to be closely monitored in order to prepare for it if necessary, ”qualifies the expert.
According to him, “the Omicron era” has not finished increasing tenfold, and we must necessarily expect to deal with other sub-variants in the coming months, several of which are already in circulation across the world.
As for the BA.4 and BA.5 variants which are fueling a new wave in certain European countries, they are not making themselves felt for the moment. Cases related to BA.4 represent 1% of sequenced cases in Quebec and no data was available for BA.5.
Vaccination in slow motion
The vaccination campaign continues to slow down. Quebec administers an average of 8,000 doses per day, down 36% over one week. To date, 83.4% of Quebecers have received two doses, but only 52% three and 12.9% four.
With Henri Ouellette-Vézina, The Press