The upward trend in COVID-19 continues in Quebec, as the province reports 1,628 new ones on Monday, three more deaths as well as an increase in hospitalizations and intensive care. During this time, the vaccination maintains a rate of approximately 25,000 daily doses.
These 1,628 new cases bring the daily average calculated over seven days to 1,683. The trend is thus upward by 40% over one week.
Quebec currently has close to 20 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This is twice the red alert threshold used in fall 2020. At the peak of the second wave, in mid-January 2021, Quebec reported an average of 31 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, or close to 2,700 cases per day.
With three more deaths, the average fatality stands at three, which gives a trend that is up slightly over a week.
In the health network, on Monday we observed an increase of six hospitalizations, or 30 admissions and 24 discharges. Currently, 268 patients remain hospitalized due to COVID-19, of which 73 are still in intensive care. This is an increase of five users on this plan in the last 24 hours.
Over a period of one week, the number of people hospitalized increased by 19%. This proportion jumped from 18% in intensive care in the same period.
Status of vaccination
On the vaccination side, the authorities administered a little more than 24,000 additional doses on Sunday, to which were added 1,620 vaccines given before December 12 which had not yet been counted. Including people vaccinated outside the province, 14.2 million doses have been given to Quebecers since the start of the pandemic.
To date, 41.6% of young people aged 5 to 11 have had their first dose, while 8% of them are currently waiting for their appointment. In the general population, 83.3% of Quebecers have received at least one dose and 78.3% are adequately vaccinated.
On Saturday, Public Health carried out 34,408 screening tests, a figure relatively higher than the weekly average.
On Sunday, the CIUSSS of the Estrie region asked the population for help to trace positive cases, while the increase in the number of people positive for COVID-19 is causing a slowdown in screening in the region. “The situation in Estrie is quite worrying in terms of cases. There has been an upsurge in the number of visits, and the number of tests performed per day has increased considerably, ”said CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS spokesperson Annie-Andrée Émond.
With Pierre-André Normandin