Quebec reports just five more net hospitalizations Friday, a sign the sixth wave is levelling off

Quebec reported only five more hospitalizations on Friday, when both discharges and admissions are taken into account.

The number is a decrease from the past few weeks and comes just after the province's public health chief said he foresees hospitalizations in the sixth wave stabilizing soon.

Friday's net increase includes 265 people newly admitted to hospital with the virus and 260 who have been newly discharged. The net increase on Thursday, by comparison, was 24.

The overall number of people in intensive care didn't change, staying at 88. That includes 16 new admissions and 16 discharges (or deaths).

Dozens of COVID-19 deaths are still taking place each day, with Quebec reporting 34 more on Friday.

The strain on the province's hospitals is also still high overall , with a total of 2,410 currently hospitalized with the virus. In total, 10,833 workers are currently absent from the health-care system for COVID-related reasons.

POSITIVITY RATE AMONG TESTS STILL FAIRY HIGH

While the province's testing system remains unreliable after beng limited to a small portion of the population, 2,499 more people were officially declared COVID-positive in the last 24 hours by PCR test, with another 732 self-reporting a positive test.

The positivity rate of all the people who got PCR tests -- often a more reliable indicator of how high infection levels are -- remains high at 15.1 per cent, roughly the same as the past few days.

The sixth-wave high on that measure was 21 per cent positivity among all PCR tests, on April 1.

VACCINATION BRISK, BUT CHILDREN'S RATES LOW

The pace of vaccination remains brisk, with 41,257 new shots reported. Fifty-four per cent of the population now has a third dose, including 61 per cent of Quebecers in their 40s and 50s and 38 per cent of those aged 18 to 39.

The lowest vaccination rates, by far, are still among the province's young children, with only 66 per cent of kids aged five to 11 having even a first dose.

Quebec hasn't yet begun reporting statistics on how many people have gotten a fourth dose.

 

COVID-19 CASES IN QUEBEC
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