Quebec reports Friday a decrease of 19 hospitalizations linked to COVID-19, but 13 new deaths are added to the balance sheet. The vaccination campaign experienced a slight rebound during this time.
Posted at 11:30 a.m.
Updated at 11:44 a.m.
The 13 new deaths reported on Friday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to six. The trend is down 23% over one week.
Despite a decrease of 19 hospitalizations, the 2,063 people currently hospitalized nevertheless represent an increase of 13% over one week. In intensive care, the 60 patients represent a 58% increase over one week.
The number of people in hospital is expected to continue to rise over the next few days, with the number of admissions outpacing discharges. On average, there are 33 more patients every day.
The number of workers absent due to the pandemic has increased slightly. They were 4019 Friday to have to isolate themselves, or 2% more than last week.
The 1057 new cases reported on Friday bring the daily average to 923. The trend is thus up 3% over one week. 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 10.6%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 450 people have also reported in recent days having obtained a positive result from a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, have increased by 11% over the past week.
Slight rebound in vaccination
The government’s recent call for vaccination appears to have been heard, with the campaign’s pace rebounding slightly over the past two days. Quebec administers an average of 17,100 doses per day.
The impact of this rebound in vaccination remains modest on vaccination coverage, which has increased very slightly compared to last week. Taking into account the fact that Public Health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, only 20.3% of Quebecers have their vaccination up to date.
