(Montreal) The pressure exerted by the pandemic on the health network continues to decrease. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has returned to the level seen in early fall.
On Tuesday, Quebec counted a total of 1,711 people hospitalized positive for COVID-19, down 10% over one week. But of the number, only 545 patients were hospitalized directly because of their COVID-19 infection, the others having been admitted for another reason. Hospitalizations have thus returned to the lowest level observed since the beginning of the fall.
The number of people in hospital is expected to continue to decline over the next few days, with discharges outpacing admissions. On average, there are 27 fewer patients every day.
The pressure on hospital staff is also decreasing. Tuesday, there were 2001 absences in the health network, or 7% less than a week ago.
The spread of COVID-19 also continues to slow. The 536 new cases by PCR tests reported on Tuesday bring the daily average to 483. The trend is thus down 19% 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 7.1%.
On the other hand, downside: deaths remain high. The 20 deaths reported on Tuesday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to eight. The trend is thus stable over a week.