January one of deadliest months for COVID in Quebec since beginning of pandemic

January was one of Quebec’s deadliest months of the pandemic. Over 1,500 Quebecers lost their lives to the virus amid the fifth wave – and more than 13,400 since the pandemic began.

Now as hospitalizations decline in the province, the rate of deaths during this fifth wave compared to others has been unprecedented, even if Omicron is said to be less severe.

“From a variant that was supposed to be less dangerous, we saw the contrary, we saw people very sick responding more or less in the same way as what we’ve seen with other variants,” said Dr. Michel de Marchie, ICU physician.

“On the contrary, we were up to two weeks where we had several wards full.”

“That was tough to see because we’ve been trying to spread as much knowledge as possible and share our information and it’s always people’s rights to choose what they want to do with their bodies. But seeing people die when that could’ve been avoided was hard,” explained Naveed Hussain, COVID ward nurse.

As of Feb. 3, the average rate of new deaths within the previous seven days was 5.4 per million people, just under Italy at six and the U.S. at 7.4.

“The increase in deaths was a bit shocking. But just like the first wave, this was something new again and we were just dealing with situations as we went along,” added Hussain.

Several experts believe this could have been avoided if there was a faster rollout of booster shots.

“I agree with the fact that the booster was essential, but I don’t want to be in the position to lay blame,” said Dr. de Marchie.

Hospitalizations in January hit an all-time high in Quebec – seeing some days with over 3,500 patients – even as 90 per cent of Quebecers have at least one COVID-19 vaccine.

And hospitalizations were the worst it’s ever been for children under five, with more young kids hospitalized during the fifth wave than during the four previous waves combined.

But health officials say at times they are being admitted with other ailments and test positive for COVID when brought into the E.R.

“This is a disease that affects people with varying immunity or various deficiencies in their immune system,” said Dr. de Marchie. “Initially in Quebec, we saw elderly people coming from nursing and that died down and now we’ve seen a variety of people who were not vaccinated.”

Some healthcare workers are pointing fingers at the government saying the current system is what led to the current situation.

“Did I see a difference between the first wave and the fifth wave really?” asked Hussain. “No. And the reason for that is because we as a society and our leaders have not made the necessary changes in our healthcare infrastructure. So were continuously living this vicious cycle.”