Quebec COVID hospitalizations down, INESSS indicates trend will continue

Quebec reporting a 57-patient decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and 18 additional deaths linked to the virus in the last 24 hours.

15,084 fatalities total in the province since the pandemic began.

The Health Department says 2,119 people are in hospital with COVID-19, after 150 people were admitted and 207 were discharged.

There are 64 people in intensive care, down by 14 from the day before – with eight new entries and 22 released.

Health officials say 1,416 new cases were confirmed with PCR testing and that 11.6 per cent of tests analyzed Wednesday were positive. An additional 329 positive self-tests were reported through the government’s website. Note that the number of cases is not representative of the situation since access to PCR tests is restricted.

Over 7,500 health-care workers are absent due to COVID-19, a drop of 80 from the day before.

And 21,313 doses of vaccine were administered in the past 24 hours, including 18,783 fourth doses – about 10 per cent of those eligible so far and 54 per cent have gotten a third shot.

An average of 90 hospitalizations expected per day in Quebec in two weeks

Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients continue to decrease across Quebec and could stabilize at an average of 90 per day within two weeks.

That’s what projections from the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) are indicating, based on data collected for the week of April 23 to 29 on hospitalizations related to COVID-19.

The Institute observed a decrease of 17 per cent in the number of new hospital cases reported for the second consecutive week, stabilizing at 1,280 hospitalizations – while hospitalized patients ages 60 to 69 saw an increase of eight per cent compared to the week before.

Steady and continued decrease projected

According to INESSS data, it’s expected that Quebec will see a decrease in regular beds occupied by COVID patients for the next two weeks. They are projecting an average of 1,327 beds.

In their latest update, INESSS experts also project a decline in ICU hospitalizations for COVID patients for the same period – the week of April 23 to 29.