Daily COVID-19 Cases Skyrocket to Over 14,000 in Quebec | The Canadian News

Quebec reported 14,188 more COVID-19 infections on Thursday and nine more deaths related to the virus.

Thursday’s case burden is the highest of all provinces since the start of the pandemic.

The number of active cases in Quebec now stands at 86,866.

Quebec Prime Minister François Legault provided an update on the situation at 5 p.m., as cases of the Omicron variant continue to grow exponentially, increasing pressure on the health network. You can watch the live stream on this page with all the details on what was announced by clicking here.

Hospitalizations saw another sharp increase of 135, with 229 new patients admitted and 94 discharged. Of the 939 hospitalizations, 138 patients are in intensive care for an increase of 16 from the previous day.

In an attempt to avoid a disruption in services, some healthcare workers who test positive will be allowed to return to work under certain conditions.

The province outlined conditions during a technical briefing on Wednesday.

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But model predictions released Thursday by the Insitut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) show that the situation is likely to get much worse in the coming weeks.

The most optimistic scenario, based on average growth rates, shows that COVID-19 hospitalizations could reach 1,600 in the next three weeks, while intensive care patients could jump to 300.

The second scenario projects up to 2,100 COVID-19 patients in regular beds and 375 in intensive care, a figure higher than what the province saw in previous waves of the pandemic.

The institute said the projected increase in hospitalizations could be impacted and potentially slowed by intensifying vaccination efforts and recently implemented or future public health measures.

To date, 84.5% of the population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Emphasis is being placed on getting children between the ages of 5 and 11 twice vaccinated and providing the third dose booster shots as quickly as possible to all eligible adults.

Since the start of the health crisis, Quebec has recorded 586,607 infections, 488,030 recoveries and 11,711 deaths attributable to the virus.