Covid-19, respiratory viruses causing increases in Quebec deaths

In a recent La Presse article, the ISQ, the institute responsible for Quebec Statistics, revealed that about 77, 300 people died in Quebec in 2023, and that this represents about 4,000 more deaths than had been predicted by the institute, with about 60 per cent of these deaths in the 70 years old and older age group.

ISQ Demographer Frédéric Fleury-Payeur stated in the report that the main cause for the increase in deaths in comparison to the number projected is due to Covid-19 and respiratory viruses.

“I think it’s not entirely surprising that we’re seeing an increase in deaths from Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses,” said Dr. Christopher Labos, a Montreal cardiologist and epidemiologist.

“We’ve been seeing an increase in cases and increasing hospitalizations and the unfortunate and almost inevitable conclusion of that is that we are going to see more deaths. The more cases you have, the more widespread the spread of the virus, the more severe cases, the more complications and the more mortality that you’re going to see associated with it.” 

Dr. Labos says that Covid-19, flu and respiratory viruses tend to spread more frequently in the winter, but there are certain factors that could explain why there were more deaths in Quebec than predicted.

“I think the COVID vaccine was a little bit lower than what many of us would have hoped,” explained Labos. “There’s really very little public health measures in place now. Very few people are masking, calls to improve indoor air quality are not really yielding much. And so we really haven’t done the things that would prevent the spread of respiratory viruses.”

Labos adds that there are several things that people can do, especially those over 70 years old, to protect themselves from these viruses.

“Get your Covid booster, get your influenza shot. If you can afford the RSV vaccine or have private insurance, you have to get that as well. And that is likely going to become a yearly requirement for people as we see the continuous spread of these viruses,” said Labos, adding, “I would wear a mask, especially a well fitted N95 mask in a public indoor space where you’re going to be around a lot of other people.” 

“And long term, we really have to start advocating for the improvement of indoor air quality. We have to start measuring indoor air quality. We have to start improving ventilation and installing air filtration systems so that we can clean the air.”