The Province of Quebec recorded 1,744 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, although public health reported that the drop below the current average is due to a delay in the transmission of laboratory data. Keeping in mind that those left out will likely lead to a greater increase in Monday’s numbers, the total number of people infected has now risen to 242,714, of which 213,008 are now considered to have recovered. The data also reported 50 new deaths, for a total of 9,055.
The number of hospitalizations decreased by 14 compared to the previous day and consistently over the weekend for a cumulative total of 1,460. Among these, the number of people in intensive care decreased by 12, for a total of 215.
The Estrie Region reported only 62 new cases on Sunday after 100 and 101 on each of the previous two days, although it was unclear whether the region was affected by the same reporting error that was mentioned province wide.
The total number of deaths related to the virus in the region increased by three to 228 with the addition of another three from the Jardins Pinecroft in Magog, the Place Primevère in Waterloo, and the Saint-Vincent long-term care facility in Sherbrooke.
The number of hospitalizations in the region remained close to its capacity on Sunday with 72 out of 79 short term beds in use and 11 out of 25 intensive care beds filled. The region’s hospitals also continued to host two patients transferred from other regions.
The CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS announced on Friday that it will be prolonging the access restrictions for the Fleurimont Hospital, Sherbrooke Hotel-Dieu, Granby Hospital, and Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital at least until Saturday January 23. The temporary rules, originally put in place from the 9-16 of January, were extended in light of the fact that ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks within certain wards of these facilities had not shown sufficient improvement. In light of the regulations, no visitor or caregiver will be allowed access to any of the four facilities in question unless authorized by a patient’s care team and then, only under very specialized circumstances.
As of January 16 the province had administered 146,694 doses of vaccine at an average rate of 8,949 people per day. A total of 7,094 doses were listed as having been administered in the Estrie region, where the focus is currently on healthcare workers and those living and working in long-term care homes.
In a notice issued Friday, Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services stated that the province will be receiving significantly fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine than expected over the next four weeks due to a reorganization of that company’s production line. As a result, 86,775 of the 176,425 doses expected to arrive by February 8 will not be delivered, and the vaccination schedule is being revised accordingly.
COVID weekend update
Record Staff
