The number of hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 continues to increase in Quebec. But the spread is starting to show signs of stabilizing.
The province reported an increase of 60 hospitalizations on Wednesday. The 2,081 people currently hospitalized, including 63 in intensive care, represent an increase of 5% over one week. Of these, 698 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 15 more patients every day.
The National Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Services, however, predicts that the number of hospital admissions should stabilize within two weeks. The organization responsible for monitoring the impact of the pandemic on the health network notes that “the models used cannot take into account the expected increase in contacts in the coming weeks”. Office parties and family gatherings could thus muddy the waters by contributing to the spread of cases.
The 12 deaths reported on Wednesday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to 12. The trend is up 34% over one week.
The majority of deaths reported over the past two weeks were aged 70 and over. Quebec deplores eight deaths in the sixties and three in the under 60s.
Spread Stabilization
The 1,300 new cases by PCR tests reported on Wednesday bring the daily average to 1,049. 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 11.8%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 307 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, increased by 13% over one week.
Immunization continues to slow
Meanwhile, the pace of the vaccination campaign continues to slow. Quebec administers an average of 14,750 doses per day, which is 8% less than last week.
The pace of the campaign even made it possible to expand vaccination coverage. Taking into account the fact that Public Health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 28.4% of Quebecers currently have their vaccination up to date. This represents an increase of 0.4 points over the past week.
