The meteoric rise in cases continues in Quebec. The province reported 17,122 new cases of COVID-19 and 8 additional deaths on Saturday. Hospitalizations are up by 98.
In the past week, nearly 90,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, an average of 12,837 per day. The trend is thus up by 85%.
The eight additional deaths bring the daily average to 10. This is two and a half times what was deplored last week.
The number of hospitalizations has increased to a total of 1,161 people now, 98 more than the day before. There are now 153 people in intensive care, an increase of 2. The number of people hospitalized has more than doubled in the past week.
The 1,161 people hospitalized represent an increase of 121% over one week.
There are 1,523 active outbreaks.
The number of tests performed on December 31st stood at 58,453. The positivity rate is 31.0%, six times more than the 5% threshold recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Vaccination continues
The Ministry of Health indicates that more than 29,000 additional injections were administered, ie 846 first doses, 591 second and 27,740 third.
To date, just over 368,000 young people aged 5 to 11 have had their first dose, or 56% of this age group, and almost 980,000 people over the age of 60 have received their third dose, or 40 % of the group.
So far, 84.9% of the population has received their first dose, 77.8% their second and 16.0% their third.
Canadian record
Ontario set a new mark of new daily COVID-19 cases on Saturday, but Ontario public health officials are warning the number of people infected is likely even higher.
Authorities reported 18,445 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, shattering the record of 16,713 set the day before.
They said the number of people infected is underestimated because testing is less accessible to the general population due to new government guidelines.
Public Health also deplored 12 additional deaths.
With Pierre-André Normandin, Press and The Canadian Press