COVID-19 cases in Quebec hospitals have tripled in the past month

 The number of people infected with COVID-19 and staying in Quebec hospitals has tripled in the past month, Health Minister Christian Dubé reported Friday morning.

The number of patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus has risen from around 300 three weeks ago to 881 as of Wednesday, Sept. 6.

"I don't want to worry the population, because it's no fun what we've been through for three years (of the pandemic)," he was careful to say at a press conference, on the sidelines of an announcement about the transformation of a hundred temporary vaccination centres into permanent ones.

People who are admitted are not necessarily admitted because of COVID-19, but once admitted they are found to be infected.

He predicts that there could be between 2,000 and 3,000 cases of COVID-19 in hospital this autumn, but that this will not result in an increase in intensive care admissions, which are currently still stable, thanks to vaccine immunization.

Of the 881 hospitalizations on Wednesday, Sept. 6, a total of 19 people were admitted to intensive care.

Dubé wouldn't forecast a possible resurgence of COVID-19 this fall, but said he would make sure the health-care network was ready.

"Quebecers are asking us to be ready (in case another wave of COVID strikes). Will it be 2,000 or 3,000 patients admitted to hospital? We don't know. But we do know that the best remedy is vaccination, and we're telling Quebecers who want it that they can be vaccinated," he said.

Quebec Public Health Director Luc Boileau will be responsible for issuing his recommendations at a later date.

Between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2, a total of 2,359 COVID-19 cases were reported, for 1,360,615 cases reported since the start of the pandemic, reports public health.

In addition, 25 new deaths were reported, for a total of 18,220.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 8, 2023