The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 drops below 1,600, a sign that the pandemic continues to lose ground in Quebec.
Posted at 11:13 a.m.
The province reports 14 new deaths on Wednesday. These bring the daily average calculated over seven days to 16. The trend is thus down 18% over one week.
Quebec also reports a decrease of 35 hospitalizations on Wednesday. The 1,599 people currently hospitalized represent a drop of 13% over one week. In intensive care, the 48 patients represent a drop of 23% 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 35 fewer patients every day.
The 728 new cases reported on Wednesday bring the daily average to 701. The trend is thus down 30% 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 6.3%.
In addition to the cases detected by PCR tests, 334 people have also reported in recent days having tested positive on a rapid test. Self-reported cases, which are not included in daily reported cases, are down 32% over the past week.
The vaccination campaign continues to slow down. Quebec administers an average of 14,200 doses per day. To date, 83.3% of Quebecers have received two doses, 51.9% have received three and only 12.1% have had four.