By Gordon Lambie
The number of active cases of COVID-19 in the Eastern Townships swelled to 566 on Wednesday with the addition of 138 new cases since Monday’s report. Of the 566, 210 were in Sherbrooke, 123 were in the Haut-Saint-François, 74 were in the Haute-Yamaska, 51 were in Granit, 43 were in Memphremagog, 25 were in La Pommeraie, 17 were in Des Sources, 12 were in the Val Saint-François, and nine were in the Coaticook area, with two not linked to any particular region. The Memphremagog, Sherbrooke, Haut-Saint-François, and Granit regions all reported increases of more than 20 cases in just two days.
In Sherbrooke, the public health department encouraged those going to get tested to make an appointment in advance either by telephone at 819 791-2526 or online by visiting https://cv19quebec.ca/. Those who opted not to do so faced more than an hour’s wait in two different lines to be able to get a test.
There was one new death recorded in the Townships on Wednesday, from the Saint-Vincent long-term care home in Sherbrooke, bringing the regional total to 375.
The number of hospitalizations in the region due of Covid increased to 10 people, one of whom was in intensive care.
The Province of Quebec reported 672 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of people infected to 431,612 with 5,377 active cases.
There was one new death recorded, for a total of 11,529 since the start of the pandemic.
The number of hospitalizations increased by one, to 220, while the number of people in intensive care remained stable compared to the previous day, at 45.
There was no significant change in the percentage of vaccianted Quebecers in Wedensday’s report, although the province reported administering another 11,261 doses.
