Quebec COVID-19 deaths rise by 52 as hospitalizations approach 3,000
Quebec recorded another sharp increase in deaths Wednesday as 457 people entered care with COVID-19, bringing the total to 2,877 people in hospital with the virus.
The province could surpass 3,000 hospitalizations as early as Thursday if current trends continue. That would be in line with projections released last week by Quebec's health institute (INESSS), which suggested an explosion of hospitalizations due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
For now, ICU occupancy remains lower than the institute's prediction of 400. Wednesday's ICU cases stood at 263, an overall increase of eight.
Since the previous day, 41 people entered critical care, and 33 were discharged.
Deaths increased by 52, bringing that total to 12,028.
The province also reported 8,351 new cases, though the actual number of new infections is likely much higher since Quebec restricted testing to certain groups.
What may be more encouraging is the apparent drop in the positivity rate compared to earlier days of the Omicron wave.
On Wednesday, an analysis of 38,331 tests found a positivity rate of 16.6 per cent, meaning that 16.6 per cent of all tests done on that day came back positive.
For comparison, the positivity rate stood at 31.2 per cent on Jan. 6 based on 56,147 tests.
However, both rates are well above five per cent, which, in past waves of the pandemic, authorities considered an alarm threshold.
THIRD DOSES APPROACH 30 PER CENT
Of the eligible population (aged five and up), 89 people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 82 per cent have two, and 27 per cent have three.
Booster eligibility is opening to anyone over 35 on Wednesday. And vaccination rates are expected to rise in the coming days following a controversial move from the provincial government suggesting it will tax unvaccinated people.
On Tuesday, more than 7,000 people signed up for their first shot, the "highest [increase] in recent days," according to Health Minister Christian Dube, who called the increase "encouraging" in a Wednesday social media post.
Registration for a booster dose will open soon to the following groups:
- 25 and up: Thursday, Jan. 13
- 18 and up: Friday, Jan. 14
Health-care workers administered 111,033 more COVID-19 doses, bringing that total to 16,220,710.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.