Over 3000 beds occupied. Over 400 patients in intensive care. Quebec hospitals will soon have more patients with COVID-19 than at any other time during the pandemic.
The National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) presented its most recent projections on Thursday on the impact of the pandemic in Quebec. He anticipates that the threshold of 3,000 beds occupied by patients with COVID-19 will be crossed around January 16.
In addition, Quebec should cross the threshold of 400 intensive care patients at the same time. Either way, it’s significantly beyond level 3 of designated COVID-19 beds.
Currently, 1,750 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Quebec, including 191 in intensive care. Normally, at level 3, only 1,252 beds are expected to be occupied by COVID-19 patients.
INESSS points out that nearly half of patients are hospitalized for a reason other than COVID-19 and are diagnosed upon admission. This proportion is 15% in intensive care.
INESSS stresses that predicting the impact of the pandemic is becoming increasingly difficult. The projections are based in particular on the number of new cases detected. However, reaching the limit of the screening system confuses the reading.
In addition, the impact of the tightening of health measures announced at the end of December, as well as the acceleration of the administration of the third doses of vaccine, remains to be seen.