Deaths and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continue to increase in Quebec.
The province reported 19 new pandemic-related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the seven-day daily average to 12. The number of deaths reported daily has doubled in the past week.
Note that this increase is not due to a catch-up in data entry, since 16 of the 19 deaths occurred this week. Only three of those deaths occurred more than a week ago.
Quebec also reported an increase of 22 hospitalizations on Tuesday. The 1,959 people currently hospitalized, including 53 in intensive care, represent an increase of 4% over one week. Of these, 653 patients were hospitalized directly due to their COVID-19 infection, the others having been admitted for another reason.
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 12 more patients every day.
The 1,132 new cases by PCR tests reported on Tuesday bring the daily average to 939. The trend is thus down 7% 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 11.2%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 297 people also reported over the weekend having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, increased by 8% over one week.
In hospitals, the number of workers absent due to the pandemic is on the rise. Tuesday, there were 3,785 absences in the health network, significantly more than a week ago.
