If Quebecers were wise for Christmas, the triple epidemic of respiratory viruses could well be a thing of the past. According to data collected as of New Year’s Eve, the progression of the three respiratory viruses was slowing down.
For a third consecutive week, the indicators show a clear decrease in the spread of influenza in Quebec. These figures confirm the decline of a first wave of seasonal flu, unless the holidays hide a recovery.
Since the most recent weekly report concerns the period ending on December 24, we will still have to be patient before seeing the impact of the festive gatherings on the circulation of influenza.
We can still observe that the downward trend was well underway before Christmas Eve.
According to data released Thursday by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, there were 1,952 new influenza infections in the week ending December 24.
This is another significant drop from the 2,837 cases recorded in the week ending December 17. In addition, the screening test positivity rate also dropped from 21.72% to 17%.
Influenza type A strains remain prevalent and type B infections, which were on the rise, have also decreased.
COVID is slowing down
During his most recent public outing, ten days before Christmas, the national director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, was worried about a resurgence of COVID-19.
Rather, it appears that the circulation of the virus slowed in the week ending December 24. There were 700 new hospitalizations, a notable drop from the 910 patients admitted to hospital in the previous week.
Then, we recorded 56 deaths linked to the coronavirus against 59 and 75 deaths in the previous two weeks.
On Thursday, the daily report from the Ministry of Health – on hiatus for part of the holidays – reported 26 additional deaths, but only one since the day before. There was also a decrease of 60 hospitalizations compared to December 22 for a total of 2,059 patients with the disease. However, only 711 patients were admitted specifically because of their COVID infection.
In addition, the respiratory syncytial virus also continues to lose momentum, with 374 new infections observed against 455 in the previous weekly report.
We will now have to wait for the next assessment to discover the impact that the festivities will have had on the spread of these three viruses.