The daily reports of COVID-19 have disappeared, but the impact of the pandemic is still very present. The coronavirus continues to kill five Quebecers a day on average, according to data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ).
The Ministry of Health has stopped reporting daily data related to new cases, hospitalizations and deaths attributed to COVID-19 for three weeks now. The INSPQ, however, continued to disseminate some of the information still collected on a weekly basis.
Thus, the most recent data compiled show that Quebec has deplored 34 deaths in the past week, or almost five per day. Almost all of these deaths occurred in seniors aged 70 and over. An elderly person in his 30s, however, died of COVID-19 on April 19.
Since the start of 2023, no fewer than 800 Quebecers have succumbed to COVID-19.
However, it is difficult to say whether the coronavirus is gaining or losing ground at present, the data on new cases was now partial and contradictory. Thus, the number of cases detected by PCR tests has fallen by 16% for a week, with 325 new cases being discovered on average each day.
But these data do not agree with the signal of COVID-19 in wastewater. The four cities continuing to participate in the screening program in their sewers, namely Montreal, Quebec, Gatineau and Sherbrooke, have shown a clear increase since the beginning of April.