The number of new cases of COVID-19 remains high in Quebec, even if it is a little lower than the day before.
According to data released on Saturday by the Ministry of Health, 3,631 new cases have been identified since the previous report. There were 3,768 the day before. Authorities have identified 481,988 cases since the start of the pandemic.
The pandemic is hitting people who have been vaccinated. The health ministry says 2,320 newly infected people have been adequately vaccinated for at least seven days. However, it is not yet clear from the data when they received this second dose. COVID-19 is also reported to have struck 1,189 unvaccinated people.
The average of new cases over the past seven days stands at 2,521, an increase of more than 62% from last Saturday.
The situation worries the authorities. Prime Minister François Legault reiterated his concerns in a message to the public posted on his Facebook page.
“What we all achieved this week, the experts, 1/8 the Minister of Health 3/8 Christian Dubé, 1/8 the Director of Public Health 3/8 Doctor Arruda and me, is that the Omicron variant is advancing at breakneck speed. It’s hard to imagine. We have never seen something so overwhelming since the start of the pandemic, ”he said.
Two new deaths have been added to the death toll. We now deplore 11,636 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its appearance in Quebec.
The situation continues to worsen in hospitals where the number of patients has increased from 312 to 347. There are 74 people in intensive care, 12 more than the day before.
The number of active outbreaks also fell, from 1,307 to 1,322.
A total of 45,023 analyzes were performed on December 16. The positivity rate jumped to 8.9%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points.
Faced with the outcry over the restrictions announced Thursday, Mr. Legault even asked for a truce from his opponents. “If I had one wish this morning, it’s that we all make a Christmas truce. If we could just for 2-3 weeks stop the attacks, on social media and in everyday life, that would help us all get through it, ”he said.
He reiterated his call for volunteers “to help deliver the third dose as quickly as possible to the most vulnerable, to health workers and then to the entire population”.
No less than 62,718 doses of vaccine have been administered over the past 24 hours, including 9053 first doses to children aged 5 to 11 years and 50,432 booster doses.
The percentage of people aged 5 years and over who received a first dose is still around 88%. It is also reported that approximately 81% of the Quebec population received a second dose and that approximately 7% received a booster dose.
The Ministry of Health indicates that due to public holidays it will not publish its dashboard showing daily data or a press release on the subject on December 24, 25 and 26 or on December 31, January 1 and 2 2022.