Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continue to increase in Quebec while vaccination tends to slow down.
The province reported an increase of six hospitalizations on Saturday. The 1,813 people currently hospitalized represent a 10% increase over one week. Of these, 573 patients were hospitalized directly due to their COVID infection, the others having been admitted for another reason. In intensive care, the 52 patients represent an increase of 27% over one week.
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 24 more patients every day.
The 11 deaths reported over the weekend, including none on Monday, bring the daily average calculated over seven days to eight. The trend is down 44% over one week.
The Department of Health said it was unable to provide the most recent data on the number of new COVID cases “due to a situation beyond our control”. A strike by professionals from the National Institute of Public Health is indeed paralyzing the transmission of certain data. At the end of the last week, cases detected by PCR tests showed a strong upward trend of 18% over one week.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 467 people also reported over the weekend having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, fell by 9% over one week, but tend to stabilize.
In hospitals, the number of workers absent due to the pandemic is stable. On Monday, there were 2,816 absences in the health network, slightly less than a week ago.
Stable vaccination
Meanwhile, the pace of the vaccination campaign remains stable, but seems to want to slow down. Quebec administers an average of 18,600 doses per day, slightly less than last week.
The pace of the campaign nevertheless made it possible to expand vaccination coverage. Taking into account the fact that public health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 27.1% of Quebecers currently have their vaccinations up to date. This represents an increase of 1.2 points over the past week.
The increase in vaccination coverage is mainly observed among people aged 70 and over, a group more vulnerable to COVID. More than two-thirds received a dose in the past five months.
