COVID live updates: Quebec reports 32 new deaths as hospitalizations top 2,400 again


The number of COVID-positive patients jumped by 64, with four additional patients in ICUs.

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Updated throughout the day on Tuesday, April 26. Questions/comments: [email protected]

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top updates

  • Quebec reports 32 new deaths as hospitalizations top 2,400 again
  • The end of sick days: Working from home has made it harder to take time off
  • US to widen COVID antiviral pill distribution
  • Beijing to test 20M for COVID in bid to avert Shanghai lockdown misery
  • People 50+ eligible for 4th dose of vaccine in Saskatchewan
  • Quebec COVID guide: Vaccinations, testing
  • Sign up for our free nightly coronavirus newsletter

11:15 a.m.

Chart: Current situation vs. one year ago


11:15 a.m.

Charts: Quebec cases, deaths


11:15 a.m.

Charts: Quebec’s vaccination campaign


11:05 a.m.

Quebec reports 32 new deaths as hospitalizations top 2,400 again

Quebec has recorded 1,670 new cases of COVID-19, the provincial government announced this morning.

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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, 32 new deaths were reported, bringing the cumulative total to 14,906.

An increase in hospitalizations pushed the total number of COVID-positive patients back above 2,400 for the first time since last week.

Hospitalizations have been trending downward. Today’s increase was the biggest in six days.

The number of hospital workers absent due to COVID increased by 54, to 9,416.

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

  • Montreal Island: 352 cases, 5 deaths.
  • Net increase in hospitalizations: 64, for a total of 2,409 (204 entered hospital, 140 discharged).
  • Net increase in intensive care patients: 4, for total of 90 (21 entered ICUs, 17 discharged).
  • 13,479 PCR tests conducted Sunday.
  • 22,303 vaccine doses administered over previous 24 hours.

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10:20 a.m.

The end of sick days: Working from home has made it harder to take time off

Zoom calls, email and Slack have facilitated work during lockdowns, but they have also made it harder to take sick days

Read our full story.


10 a.m.

US to widen COVID antiviral pill distribution

US President Joe Biden’s administration is aiming to expand access to COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments like Pfizer’s Paxlovid by doubling the number of locations at which they are available, the White House said today.

Read our full story.

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

9:40 a.m.

Beijing to test 20M for COVID in bid to avert Shanghai lockdown misery

Three-quarters of Beijing’s 22 million people lined up for COVID-19 tests on Tuesday as authorities in the Chinese capital raced to stamp out a nascent outbreak and avert the debilitating city-wide lockdown that has shrouded Shanghai for a month.

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Read our full story.

A woman leaves a supermarket after buying food and household provisions in Beijing on April 25, 2022. Fears of a hard COVID lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing as long queues formed in a large central district for mass testing ordered by the Chinese authorities.
A woman leaves a supermarket after buying food and household provisions in Beijing on April 25, 2022. Fears of a hard COVID lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing as long queues formed in a large central district for mass testing ordered by the Chinese authorities. Photo by JADE GAO /AFP via Getty Images

9:20 a.m.

Politicians, media return to hallway habits at BC legislature after COVID-19 rules

From The Canadian Press:

Politicians and members of the media met each other face-to-face for the first time at the British Columbia legislature after more than two years of restrictions due to COVID-19 protocols.

Premier John Horgan greeted what he called a media “gauntlet” Monday as he passed by reporters in a legislature hallway on his way to a government caucus meeting.

Horgan stopped briefly to say the experience of seeing media in the hallways wanting to ask questions after the pandemic restrictions was “weird.”

The premier did not stay for an interview, but later, while in the chamber of the legislature, he jokingly warned other politicians that the media was back in the building looking for stories.

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The BC legislature has been sitting throughout the pandemic, but most media events and news conferences have been conducted virtually since March 2020.

Attorney General David Eby, who did stop and answer reporters’ questions, says meeting with media in the legislature hallways gave him a feeling that a major part of democracy was making a welcome return.

“It feels good,” says Eby. “It feels very democratic. I feel more accessible and I feel like the media has the ability to ask the questions they need to. I like it.”


9:20 a.m.

People 50+ eligible for 4th dose of vaccine in Saskatchewan

More people in Saskatchewan will be eligible for a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine starting Tuesday, The Canadian Press reports.

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Health Minister Paul Merriman says people 50 years and older will be able to book an appointment through a pharmacy or clinic.

Merriman says the province is not expanding eligibility any further at this time to prevent overwhelming pharmacists.

He says an interval of four months between a third and fourth shot will be necessary.

People 70 and older, Indigenous people 50 and older, the immunocompromised, and residents of long-term, special and personal care homes are already eligible for a booster.

Saskatchewan’s weekly COVID-19 report says unvaccinated people are five times more likely to end up in hospital with the virus and seven times more likely to die than those who have had three shots.


9:15 a.m.

Quebec COVID guide: Vaccinations, testing

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vaccinations

testing


8:30 a.m.

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Read my previous live blogs here.


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