Quebec hospitals aren't likely to go over capacity for the next four weeks: Health institute

MONTREAL -- Quebec's health and social services institute (INESSS) does not expect hospital capacity to be exceeded over the next four weeks in the province and particularly in Montreal. 

Data collected up until Sunday shows, however, that projections for other regions show uncertainty and that there's a greater possibility capacity could be exceeded. 

Over the past four weeks, the proportion of cases that led to early hospitalization has decreased in Montreal, Quebec City and Chaudiere-Appalaches. However, the daily number of new cases of COVID-19 is up slightly from last week. 

Health Minister Christian Dube said the number of new daily cases is stabilizing and that trend can be seen through the number of new hospitalizations. 

He said the situation remains under control, but some Quebec regions are facing a worrisome increase in new outbreaks -- notably, the north Lanaudiere and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions. No region is immune to an uptick in the spread of the disease, he said, which justifies that all efforts to limit it must be maintained for the time being. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2020.