COVID live updates: Quebec hospitalizations top 2,000 for first time since mid-February

Rise in COVID-positive patients expected to accelerate over next two weeks, new report says.

Publishing date:

Apr 13, 2022 • 21 minutes ago • 5 minute read

Montrealers continue to wear masks. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Updated throughout the day on Wednesday, April 13. Questions/comments: [email protected]

top updates

Live: Trudeau speaks to reporters in Laval
Rise in COVID-positive patients expected to accelerate over next two weeks, institute says
Quebec hospitalizations top 2,000 for the first time since mid-February
Province reports 13 deaths as vaccinations ramp up
Children play a key role in COVID transmission, according to new research
Paxlovid key in COVID fight, but easy access is important: doctors
Federal government paid $20M for COVID-19 test that flopped and was never delivered
Thousands still on unpaid leave as Liberals late updating federal public service vaccine mandate: unions
Vaccines have halved Italy’s pandemic death toll, study shows
Drones, separated kids and food shortages: Shanghai lockdown brings COVID-zero into question
Quebec COVID guide: Vaccinations, testing
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11:40 a.m.

Live: Trudeau speaks to reporters in Laval

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11:40 a.m.

Rise in COVID-positive patients expected to accelerate over next two weeks, institute says

The increase in hospitalizations in Quebec is expected to accelerate over the next two weeks

In a report published this morning, the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) said Quebec could see 278 new daily hospitalizations of COVID-positive patients within two weeks.

Last week, the Quebec government health-care research institute said it was expecting new hospitalizations to increase by 265 daily.

The INESSS said it expects the province to surpass a hospitalization level at which it has in previous waves ramped down clinical services in an overwhelmed hospital system – known in French as délestage.

According to Health Department guidelines, when the province reaches 2,124 COVID-positive patients, it has hit Level 4, which could result in a severe degree of délestage.

In January, Dr. Lucie Opatrny, Quebec’s top hospital official, warned that under Level 4, there are “even heart surgeries… that are set aside. There are even cancers, like cancer of the prostate in some cases, that can be set aside.”

11:30 a.m.

Chart: Current situation vs. one year ago

11:30 a.m.

Charts: Quebec cases, deaths

11:30 a.m.

Charts: Quebec’s vaccination campaign

11:05 a.m.

Quebec hospitalizations top 2,000 for the first time since mid-February

Quebec has recorded 3,515 new cases of COVID-19, the provincial government announced this morning.

The case tally only includes people who received PCR tests at government screening clinics. It does not accurately reflect the number of cases since it does not include the results of home rapid tests.

In addition, 13 new deaths were reported, bringing the cumulative total to 14,592.

Hospitalizations continue to rise. For the first time since mid-February, Quebec has more than 2,000 COVID-positive patients in hospitals.

The number of patients with COVID in intensive care units is at its highest point since March 1.

Vaccinations are ramping up, now that people 60 and older can get fourth doses (also known as second boosters). The number of people vaccinated yesterday was the highest since early February.

Some other key statistics from Quebec’s latest COVID-19 update:

Montreal Island: 734 cases, 4 deaths.
Net increase in hospitalizations: 122, for a total of 2,060 (224 entered hospital, 102 discharged).
Net increase in intensive care patients: 16, for a total of 83 (25 entered ICUs, 9 discharged).
22,777 PCR tests conducted Monday.
38,839 vaccine doses administered over previous 24 hours.

10 a.m.

Children play a key role in COVID transmission, according to new research

Children are a significant source of COVID-19 spread in households, according to a new study by Ottawa researchers, which counters an earlier perception that children play a limited role in the transmission of the virus.

Read our full story.

9:50 a.m.

Paxlovid key in COVID fight, but easy access is important: doctors

Dr. Cesira Nencioni, director of infectious diseases at Misericordia hospital in Italy, holds Paxlovid pills. Photo by JENNIFER LORENZINI /REUTERS

A pill to treat COVID-19 appears to be the country’s best hope, outside of vaccines and strong public health measures, to keep hospitals from being overrun with cases of the virus now and in the future, doctors say.

But with infections surging across the country, experts say the patchwork distribution system for Paxlovid in various parts of Canada may inhibit those who most need the drug from getting it in time.

Read our full story.

9:50 a.m.

Federal government paid $20M for COVID-19 test that flopped and was never delivered

The federal government pre-paid $20 million for COVID-19 tests from Ottawa-based Spartan Bioscience that it never received because they never worked as promised, according to new documents.

Read our full story.

9:50 a.m.

Thousands still on unpaid leave as Liberals late updating federal public service vaccine mandate: unions

The Liberal government is now a week late on updating its vaccine mandate policy for federal public servants, according to unions, leaving the 1,828 unvaccinated individuals on unpaid leave waiting to find out if they can go back to work.

Read our full story.

9:50 a.m.

Vaccines have halved Italy’s pandemic death toll, study shows

People wait in line before entering the Colosseum as Italy begins to ease some COVID-19 restrictions, lifting the obligation to show a health pass to sit at outdoor restaurants, access museums and other activities in Rome, Italy, April 1, 2022. Photo by GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE /REUTERS

Vaccines against COVID-19 have roughly halved the death toll from the disease in Italy, preventing some 150,000 fatalities and 8 million cases last year, the National Health Institute (ISS) estimated on Wednesday.

Read our full story.

9:50 a.m.

Drones, separated kids and food shortages: Shanghai lockdown brings COVID-zero into question

If there was ever any doubt about how seriously China took the idea of COVID-19 containment, the drones probably erased it.

Read our full story.

9:15 a.m.

Quebec COVID guide: Vaccinations, testing

vaccinations

testing

8:30 a.m.

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