The decline of COVID-19 continues in Quebec despite the start of the school year. The province reported Monday a drop of 38 people hospitalized, 473 new cases and no new deaths.
Posted at 11:47 a.m.
Quebec reports a decrease of 38 hospitalizations. The 1,880 people currently hospitalized represent a drop of 6% over one week. In intensive care, however, the 49 patients represent an increase of 17% over one week.
The number of people in hospital is expected to decline over the next few days, with discharges outpacing admissions. On average, there are 17 fewer patients every day.
Another sign that the pressure is easing on the health network, the number of workers absent due to the pandemic continues to decline. They were 3403 Monday to have to isolate themselves, 9% less than last week.
The number of cases also continues to decline. The 473 new cases reported on Monday bring the daily average to 776. The trend is thus down 20% over one week. These figures likely reflect only a portion of total infections, due to limited access to PCR screening tests. Moreover, the proportion of PCR screening tests proving positive for COVID remains high, at 6.6%. In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 754 people also reported over the weekend having tested positive on a rapid test.
In the absence of deaths reported on Monday, the daily average calculated over seven days remains high at 16. The trend is up 18% over one week. On the other hand, most of the deaths reported for a week occurred more than seven days ago, blurring the picture.
The pace of the vaccination campaign is progressing slowly. Quebec administers an average of 18,500 doses per day, or 14% more than last week. To date, 53.3% of Quebecers have had a booster dose and 19.4% two.
On the other hand, taking into account the fact that public health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 24.1% of Quebecers have their vaccination up to date. These are mainly people over 60 years old.
