Canada surpassed 15,000 deaths related to COVID-19 on Monday. The country had previously surpassed 10,000 COVID-19 deaths on Oct. 27 and passed the 5,000-mark on May 12.
The Province of Québec reported 2,265 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of people infected to 194,930, 166,066 of whom are now considered to have recovered. The data also reports 37 new deaths, for a total of 8,060. The number of hospitalizations increased by 39 compared to the previous day, for a cumulative total of 1,124. Among those, the number of people in intensive care increased by 1, for a total of 150. The samples conducted on Dec. 26 amount to 16,550 for a total of 4,793,646. Finally, 2,327 doses of vaccine were administered on Sunday, for a total of 19,643 since the start of the vaccination campaign.
In the Estrie region, Monday brought news of an additional 73 cases, for a total of 7,537 cases since the start of the pandemic. There were five new deaths reported in the region, two at the Argyll long term care facility and one at the Résidence Haut-Bois in Sherbrooke, one in the long-term care section of the CSSS de la MRC-de-Coaticook, and one at the Résidence Sélection in Granby. As of Monday, 41 out of the 74-bed regional capacity for COVID-19 cases were filled, and four out of a maximum of 25 intensive care beds were being used. A total of 709 doses of vaccine had been administered to targeted healthcare workers in the region as of Monday morning.
In an update about the current situation on Twitter, Health Minister Christian Dubé called the status of the healthcare network in the province critical and implored Quebecers to respect the restrictions currently in place to help get the second wave of the virus under control.
Similar to what took place in the week of Christmas, the provincial public health authority has announced plans to take a break from data reporting on Jan. 1 and 2 of 2021. An abridged version of the information will be issued on Jan. 3 including data on confirmed cases, the overall number of deaths and the number of hospitalizations from previous days.
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