One day after Quebec's public health institute officially declared a sixth wave of the pandemic, the province recorded its highest increase in new daily cases since early February.
On Thursday, the health ministry announced 3,319 new COVID-19 cases were recorded from 19,051 PCR tests, pushing the positivity rate up to 18.4 per cent.
It is the highest number of positive PCR tests since early February.
The province also received 1,881 rapid antigen test results on Wednesday, 1,601 of which were positive.
There are now 23,688 active cases across Quebec, an increase of 2,101, and active outbreaks again surpassed the 500-mark on Thursday, with 509 outbreaks monitored by public health.
The ministry said 12 more people have died, bringing the total number of deaths to 14,365 since the start of the pandemic.
Hospitalization numbers are also on the rise. Another 151 people were admitted to hospital and 113 were discharged in the last 24 hours, resulting in a net increase of 38 hospitalizations. There are now 1,238 people receiving care in hospital.
The number of people in intensive care was 66 on Thursday, an increase of six from the day before.
Health-care workers analyzed 19,860 samples on March 29.
DAILY CASES UP TO 10 TIMES HIGHER: DR. BOILEAU
With the province recording more than 3,000 cases Thursday, the actual number is likely "eight to 10 times those numbers," according to Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec's interim public health director.
Boileau said in an interview on the The Andrew Carter Morning Show on CJAD 800 that limited PCR testing doesn't provide a full picture of the COVID-19 situation in Quebec.
"We estimate that … it's most probably 25, 30,000 cases right now per day and this is a not a big surprise for us because the figures are [showing] that contamination is moving very fast and in particular, not only in Montreal, but also in the greater region of Quebec and the regions out there because they have probably been less exposed to the Omicron wave," he said.
"Now, there's a potential for the BA.2 [variant] to contaminate them very seriously and progress rapidly, which is the case right now."
The rise in cases also explains why many health-care workers are absent from work due to recent infection, he said, adding that it's important to remember that an infected person can be contagious up to 10 after symptoms or a positive test result, "not five days."
While the province has officially entered a sixth wave, as predicted by public health experts days ago, the health ministry has said no new public health restrictions are being considered.
For now, the province hasn't yet announced any changes to its plans to lift the face mask mandate in most public places by mid-April, though Dr. Boileau said Thursday public health officials are in talks to decide whether or not to extend the measure by a couple of weeks.
"So we'll see that in the next few days. We're not in a rush on that," he said.
"We'll see how the progression of the wave is going, but still, for other measures, like to shut down some economical activities or social activity, I think that we have all the tools to progress without that right now."
Dr. Luc Boileau speaks to CJAD 800
VACCINATION UPDATE
The number of vaccine shots given out to Quebecers more than doubled from the day before, likely attributable to fourth doses now being administered to people living in CHSLDs and private seniors' residences (RPAs). Fourth doses are also now open to people 80 and older. Figures for administered fourth doses aren't yet published on the government's website.
On Thursday, the ministry reported a total of 17,466 doses administered in the last 24 hours, compared to the 4,395 doses recorded in the previous update.
Health-care workers have so far administered 7,422,958 first doses covering 91 per cent of the eligible population, 7,106,265 second doses covering 87 per cent of the population, and 4,313,921 third doses covering 53 per cent of the population.
