Quebec reports a significant drop in hospitalizations on Friday: 60 fewer patients with COVID-19 are in hospital. However, 59 additional virus-related deaths have been recorded.
Posted at 11:01 a.m.
Updated at 11:49 a.m.
A total of 3,351 people in hospital are suffering from the coronavirus. Of this number, 265 are in intensive care, which represents a decrease of 20 people compared to the previous day.
Public Health also identified 5,995 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. These new infections bring the seven-day average of daily cases to 5,977.
However, the number of cases is not representative of the evolution of the pandemic, since PCR tests are only reserved for certain groups of citizens, such as healthcare workers.
WHO recommends booster dose
The World Health Organization (WHO) did an about-face on Friday. After mentioning that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was not necessary for healthy adults, the institution is now recommending it, starting with giving it to the most vulnerable.
Quebec, like several Western countries, had ignored the WHO’s request to declare a moratorium on the offer of booster doses until the end of 2021.
The WHO recommends that booster doses be given four to six months after the first two injections. “We continue to focus on vaccinating the highest priority groups,” said Dr.D Kate O’Brien, Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO.
A study anticipates the end of the pandemic
According to a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet, the end of the pandemic is approaching, although the COVID-19 virus will not go away.
The peak of the wave of the Omicron variant will take place in the various countries of the world between now and the second week of February, estimates this study.
“By March 2022, much of the world will have been infected with the Omicron variant,” it read. However, researcher Christopher JL Murray believes that “variants will surely appear and some may be more severe than Omicron”. Thus, countries can expect increased transmission of COVID-19 during the winter months.
However, the study points out that future strains of the virus will have less impact on the health of populations due to the widespread exposure of citizens to the virus and the adaptation of vaccines to the variants. However, vulnerable people will need to continue to self-isolate, wear a quality mask and practice physical distancing.
“COVID-19 will become another recurring disease that health systems and societies will need to manage,” the study states.
With the Associated Press