Premier François Legault described Thursday’s report of 3,411 hospitalizations across the province as the ‘peak’ of hospital numbers in the current wave, based on the fact that the total number of people in hospital decreased slightly for the first time in more than a month. While the premier said that some might take this as a sign that restrictions can be lifted, he emphasized that even if the numbers are turning around, they are as bad now as they have ever been.
“We cannot relax things more right now,” he said, pointing out that although this stabilization has saved the province from having to resort to more drastic action in the healthcare network, it is not yet safe to remove some of the other measures meant to help control the number of people ending up in medical care.
The number of people in intensive care across the province on Thursday remained stable compared to Wednesday’s update, with 43 admissions and 43 discharges keeping the total at 285.
Quebec also reported 98 new deaths, for a total of 12,639 since the start of the pandemic.
There were 159 people in hospital with Covid in the Eastern Townships, 22 of whom were in ICU. Both Sherbrooke hospitals saw their total number of Covid patients decrease, while the Granby hospital picked up another seven cases. The number of people in intensive care increased by 2 in the region.
