By Gordon Lambie
Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec’s interim Public Health Director, will be providing an update on the COVID-19 situation in the province on Wednesday morning. Boileau was due to provide a professional opinion to the provincial government on the decision whether or not to eliminate the requirement to wear a mask in public spaces on Monday night. He strongly implied last Thursday that the mask requirement will be removed as of May 14.
The Province of Quebec reported 2,195 people in hospital with COVID-19 across Quebec on Tuesday, an increase of 25 compared to Monday’s update but still fewer than there were at the end of last week. 76 of those people were in intensive care with the virus, a decrease of two compared to Monday. According to the provincial public health department, 43 per cent of those admitted to hospital with Covid were there because of the virus, as were 65 per cent of those in intensive care.
The number of health care workers absent for Covid-related reasons continued to decrease, reaching 7,401, but there were 27 new deaths linked to the virus recorded on Tuesday, increasing the total since the start of the pandemic to 15,036.
In the Eastern Townships there were 152 people in hospital with COVID on Tuesday, three of whom were in intensive care. Although down from Friday’s report, that marked a slight increase from the level reported on Monday.
The region recorded four new Covid-related deaths since Friday, bringing the regional total to 590 since March of 2020.
Quebec has also started to provide information about fourth dose vaccination rates. According to Tuesday’s data, over 800,000 fourth doses have been administered to date, representing about 10 per cent of the population over the age of five in the province. The second booster remains inaccessible to most under the age of 60, aside from under special circumstances, but only 32 per cent of those 60 and over have opted to get the shot.
So far a cumulative total of 19,864,546 vaccine doses have been administered across all age groups in Quebec.
