Quebec continues to report a high number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 as hospitalizations stabilize.
Posted at 11:52
The 16 new deaths reported on Tuesday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to 12. The trend is up 23% over one week.
Quebec also reported a decrease of seven hospitalizations on Tuesday. The 1,918 people currently hospitalized represent a stable trend over a week, ending the decline observed in recent times. In intensive care, the 49 patients also represent a stable trend over one week.
The number of people hospitalized should remain stable over the next few days, with the number of admissions approaching discharges. On average, there are two fewer patients every day.
The number of health network workers absent due to the pandemic is also stable, at 3,499.
Slight drop in spread
The 887 new cases reported on Tuesday bring the daily average to 826. The trend is thus down 5% 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 9.2%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 863 people have also reported in the past four days having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, have declined by 20% over the past week.
Vaccination is on the decline
The vaccination campaign is slowing down. Quebec administers an average of 19,900 doses per day, or 9% less than last week.
Despite its slowdown, the pace of the campaign even made it possible to slightly increase vaccination coverage. Taking into account the fact that Public Health recommends getting vaccinated after five months, 22.7% of Quebecers currently have their vaccinations up to date. This represents an increase of one point over the past week.
