The spread and hospitalizations of COVID-19 continue to stabilize, but deaths attributed to the pandemic remain high.
Posted at 11:33 a.m.
The 15 new deaths reported on Friday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to nine. The trend is thus up 60% over one week.
Part of this assessment, however, is attributable to a delay in the transmission of data on deaths. Indeed, six of the 15 reported on Friday occurred more than a week ago.
For the rest, the indicators are relatively encouraging. Quebec reports a decrease of 36 hospitalizations on Friday. The 2,049 people currently hospitalized represent a stable trend over one week. In intensive care, the 49 patients represent a drop of 19% over one week.
The number of people hospitalized should tend to decrease over the next few days, with the number of discharges slightly exceeding the entries. On average, there are two fewer patients every day.
Another sign that the pressure on hospitals is easing, staff absences tended to decrease slightly. On Friday, there were 3,951 health network workers absent due to the pandemic, slightly less than last week.
The spread is slowing down
The number of infections detected each day is also slowing. The 903 new cases reported on Friday bring the daily average to 921. The trend is thus stable 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 9.4%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 310 people also reported over the weekend having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, are down 16% over the past week.
Favorable wind for vaccination
The vaccination campaign continues to benefit from a favorable wind. Quebec administers an average of 20,700 doses per day, or 19% more than last week.
The pace of the campaign even made it possible to slightly increase vaccination coverage. Taking into account the fact that Public Health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 21.1% of Quebecers currently have their vaccinations up to date. This represents a modest increase of 0.8 points over the past week.
The rebound in vaccination is mainly felt among people aged 60 and over, a group more vulnerable to COVID-19.
