The impact of the triple epidemic on young people is gradually diminishing, with the number of absentees falling. However, the burden of COVID-19 on Quebec hospitals continues to increase.
On Monday, just over 117,000 students were absent from the Quebec school network, according to data from the Ministry of Education. This represents 9.4% of all students at the preschool, primary, secondary, vocational training and adult education levels.
This figure is down sharply from the peak of 158,000 absences observed at the end of November. On the other hand, these absences remain high since they correspond to the peak reached last winter during the Omicron wave.
On its own, COVID-19 seems to play a small role in school absences at present. Only 9,400 of the 117,000 absent students had symptoms related to the pandemic, a low proportion compared to last winter. The Ministry of Education does not break down the other causes of absences. Thus, it is impossible to measure the precise impact of influenza A or the respiratory syncytial virus, which are circulating abundantly this fall.
The death toll from COVID-19 rises
Despite the decline in school absences, the toll of COVID-19 is deteriorating. Thus, the province reports Thursday an increase of 25 hospitalizations. The 2,106 people currently hospitalized, including 67 in intensive care, represent an increase of 6% over one week. Of these, 709 patients were hospitalized directly due to their COVID-19 infection, the others having been admitted for another reason.
Quebec also reports 17 new deaths linked to COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the daily average calculated over seven days to 13. The trend is up 35% over one week.
It is difficult to know precisely whether the spread is increasing or stabilizing. The 1,351 new cases by PCR tests reported on Thursday bring the daily average to 1,064. 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 12%.
And in addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 284 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 16% over one week.
Vaccination is slowly declining
Meanwhile, the pace of the vaccination campaign continues to slowly decline. Quebec administers an average of 14,700 doses per day, which is 2% less than last week.
The pace of the campaign nevertheless made it possible to slightly expand vaccination coverage. Taking into account the fact that Public Health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 28.5% of Quebecers currently have their vaccinations up to date. This represents an increase of 0.3 points over the past week.
With Marie-Eve Morasse