Despite the increase in overall hospitalizations observed on Tuesday Quebec’s institute for health and social service excellence, the INESSS, published projections on Wednesday indicating that the number of new daily cases of COVID-19 in the province’s hospitals is starting to decline. This change, it notes, can be found across all age groups except among those 80 and up, where the curve has only stabilized, instead of going down.
Over the next two weeks, the INESSS anticipates a continued decline, to the point where new hospitalizations return to around 150 per day from their current level over 200, and the number of hospital beds occupied by people with Covid drops back under 2,000. Intensive care numbers are expected to drop to around 70.
These projections line up with the plan announced last week to delay the removal of masking requirements in the province until at least mid-May.
There were 2,372 people in hospital with COVID-19 across Quebec on Wednesday, 974 of whom were in as a direct result of the virus. That marked a decrease of 37 overall, and a drop by two of the latter number.
The number of people in intensive care increased by two, to 92, although the number of people in ICU because of covid decreased by two, to 58.
There were 9,514 health care workers absent for Covid-related reasons as of Wednesday’s update, and the province reported 22 new deaths linked to the virus, for a total of 14,928 since the start of the pandemic.
The number of hospitalizations In the Eastern Townships increased by two to 161, with seven in intensive care. The region reported no new deaths, however, keeping the overall number since the start of the pandemic at 582.
