The increase in hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continues in Quebec, while the number of cases is rising sharply.
The province reports Thursday an increase of 27 hospitalizations. The 1,785 people currently hospitalized represent an increase of 6% over one week. Of these, 575 patients were hospitalized directly due to their COVID-19 infection, the others having been admitted for another reason. In intensive care, there are 41 patients.
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 14 more patients every day.
This rise in hospitalizations comes as the spread is accelerating. The 1,040 new cases by PCR tests reported on Thursday bring the daily average to 834. The trend is thus up 14% 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%.
Conversely, the number of cases reported by citizens is falling sharply. In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 186 people have also reported in the past few days having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, fell by 27% over one week.
In hospitals, however, the number of workers absent due to the pandemic is on the rise. Thursday, there were 3,655 absences in the health network, or 4% more than a week ago.
Finally, the 10 deaths reported on Thursday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to seven. Note that five of them occurred more than a week ago.
Vaccination stabilizes
Meanwhile, the pace of the vaccination campaign is stabilizing. Quebec administers an average of 19,200 doses per day, a stable number for a few days.
The pace of the campaign even made it possible to increase vaccination coverage. Taking into account the fact that Public Health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 26.4% of Quebecers currently have their vaccinations up to date. This represents an increase of 1.3 points over the past week.
The increase in vaccination coverage is mainly observed among seniors, a group more vulnerable to COVID-19. Two-thirds of people aged 70 and over and half of people in their sixties received a vaccine less than five months ago.
