Quebec continues to report a high number of deaths attributed to COVID-19, although hospitalizations and cases continue their strong downward trend.
Posted at 11:02
Updated at 11:14 a.m.
The 25 new deaths reported on Thursday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to 20. The trend is thus up slightly by 7% over one week.
Still, the province continues to report a steady decline in hospitalizations, with the number of people hospitalized down 26 from Wednesday. The 1,821 people currently hospitalized represent a decrease of 14% over one week. In intensive care, the 60 patients represent a drop of 6% over one week.
The number of people in hospital is expected to continue to decline over the next few days, with the number of discharges continuing to outpace admissions. On average, there are 43 fewer patients every day.
The 767 new cases reported on Thursday bring the daily average to 914. The trend is thus down 32% over one week. This is the first time since the beginning of December 2021, i.e. before the Omicron wave, that the average of new cases has fallen below the 1000 mark.
These figures likely reflect only a portion of total infections, due to limited access to PCR screening tests. Moreover, the proportion of PCR screening tests proving positive for COVID-19 remains high, at 8.6%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 459 people have also reported in recent days having obtained a positive result from a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, have declined by 30% over the past week.
