The downward trend in hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continues in Quebec. The province, however, records 24 additional deaths, at a time when vaccination is still showing strong signs of slowing down.
Posted at 11:10 a.m.
Updated at 11:24 a.m.
Quebec reported 24 deaths related to COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the average of deaths over a week to around 15, down more than 25%. In total, the province has recorded 14,040 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
On Thursday, there was a drop of 17 hospitalizations in the health network, which translates into 98 new hospital admissions and 115 discharges. Across Quebec, 1,364 patients therefore remain hospitalized in connection with the virus, 76 of whom are still in intensive care, a decrease of 6 compared to the previous day (8 entries and 14 exits).
In new models published on Wednesday, the Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) has also forecast that the drop in hospitalizations will continue, at the rate of approximately “between 46 and 88” COVID patients per day in over the next two weeks. The regular network will thus be “between levels and 2 and 3 defined by the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS)”, and “well below” level 1 in intensive care.
Authorities are reporting 1,257 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the weekly average to 1,184 in this regard, which also follows a strong downward trend over one week. However, it should be remembered that the limits imposed on screening have made the data linked to infections much less representative for several weeks now.
Earlier on Saturday, Public Health nevertheless carried out 16,959 screening tests, a relatively stable figure compared to the average. The provincial positivity rate is currently 9.2%, up slightly from the past few days. The number of active outbreaks remains stable Thursday, at 593. So far, all more than 100,200 rapid tests have been “self-reported” on the government platform, the vast majority of which, more than 78,100 of them, had a positive diagnosis of COVID-19.
On the vaccination side, the Quebec campaign continues to slow down rapidly. In the past 24 hours, barely 7,444 doses of vaccine have been administered, to which are added 223 vaccines given before March 2 which had not yet been counted. Quebec currently vaccinates an average of 11,486 people per day, a figure that has been falling for several weeks.