Quebec reported 12 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 as the province’s hospital numbers remained on the upswing with a 61-patient jump Wednesday.
Pandemic-related hospitalizations rounded out at 1,540. This comes after 226 people were admitted in the last day and 165 were discharged.
Of those patients, 66 were in intensive care units — a drop of three compared with the previous day.
The province also recorded 3,761 new novel coronavirus cases, though this is only a partial portrait of the situation since access to PCR testing is limited.
The daily tally shows 24,249 tests were given at government-run screening sites.
Health authorities say the results of 1,726 rapid tests were declared by Quebecers in the last day. This includes 1,481 positive results.
The province doled out another 19,269 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in past 24 hours. More than 18.7 million shots have been given over the course of the campaign.
Meanwhile, anyone who is aged 70 and older can sign up for a fourth dose of the vaccine starting Wednesday. Appointments can be booked on the clic-santé website.
Quebec has reported a total of 985,300 official cases since 2020. The health crisis has killed 14,454 people to date. Recoveries from the virus topped 941,000.
Hospitalizations set to keep rising
The province’s health-care research institute says pandemic-related hospitalizations are expected to rise over the next two weeks. By that time, there could be up to 265 new admissions per day.
The Institut national d’excellence en santé et services sociaux (INESSS) released its latest projections Wednesday.
Yet, it didn’t predict Quebec’s hospital capacity would be overwhelmed.
“This is not, for now, a dramatic situation,” INESSS spokesperson Olivia Jacques said, adding that there is still the capacity for “regular (COVID-19) beds.”
“But we will have to monitor the situation over the next weeks.”
Meanwhile, the number of intensive care patients being treated for the disease is also expected to increase over the same period. The institute projected, however, that that rise in ICU cases isn’t expected to put significant pressure on the health-care system.
The latest projections came as INESSS reports that hospitalizations have been on the rise for two consecutive weeks. That increase has been noted in most age groups and regions, it says.
— with files from The Canadian Press