Record Staff
According to Health Minister Christian Dubé, 53 per cent of new COVID-19 cases reported in Quebec from July 15 to August 1 were in 20–39-year-olds, the age group with the lowest rate of vaccination aside from children under 12. As of August 2, 28 per cent of 18–29-year-olds in the province have not received a first dose of a vaccine and do not yet have an appointment to do so.
COVID-19 numbers continued their small but steady increase in Quebec on Monday with the news of 154 new cases. As a result, the number of active cases in the province climbed back up over 1,000, to 1,106 out of the 377,798 cases confirmed since the start of the pandemic. The overall number of deaths remained stable at 11,241, but the number of hospitalizations increased by one, to 61, and the number of people in intensive care did the same, to reach 17.
According to a report from The Canadian Press, the test-positivity rate in the province was 1.4 per cent on Sunday, the highest it’s been since late May, and the province has reported an average of 139 new cases a day over the past seven days, up from an average of 57 new cases a day a week prior.
The increase was also noticeable in the Eastern Townships, where there were 34 active cases on Monday, with 22 in the Sherbrooke area and six in the Haute-Yamaska. So far, the increase in new cases has not resulted in additional deaths or hospitalizations locally, but four people remain in hospital in the region due to the virus.
As of Monday morning, 74.3 per cent of the total population had received at least one dose of vaccine and 68 per cent of the population eligible to receive a shot is considered adequately vaccinated.
An update on the vaccination campaign in the Eastern Townships is expected Tuesday, but as of last Friday’s update 80.7 per cent of the local population had received a first dose and 62.4 per cent had received two doses.
