By Gordon Lambie
There were 2,051 people in hospitals across the Province of Quebec with COVID-19 on Friday, 68 fewer than were reported on Thursday. That put the number of hospitalizations around the same place they were mid-April, except on a downward trend instead of an upward climb.
Of that total, 60 were in intensive care with the virus, a decrease of four compared to Thursday. The percentage of those people where were admitted to hospital because of Covid remained steady at 43 per cent for the overall total, and 65 per cent of those in ICUs.
The number of health care workers absent for Covid-related reasons decreased again on Friday, falling to 7,337.
Despite the improvements in hospital numbers, the province still reported 22 new Covid-related deaths, for a total of 15,106 since the start of the pandemic. More than 3,000 of those deaths have been recorded since the start of 2022.
In the Eastern Townships there were 144 people in hospital as of Friday’s report, a slight increase from where things were on Thursday, but down from the peak of the sixth wave. Of Friday’s total, three were in intensive care. The total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the Townships since the start of the pandemic was 592.
With regard to vaccination, Quebec reported 28,063 doses administered on Thursday, for a total of nearly 20 million doses administered to people living in Quebec since the shots first became available. The health ministry quietly opened up eligibility for a fourth dose to all people 18 and older last Wednesday, provided that at least three months has passed since they either had the virus or their third dose. The announcement, made via Twitter, indicated that there is no active recommendation that people under the age of 60 seek an additional dose at this time except for under certain specific circumstances (such as for those with weakened immune systems) but pointed out that it is now possible for those who wish.
