COVID-19 hospitalizations spike as Quebec logs 701 new cases

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Montreal — Dozens more people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Quebec on Friday as the province logged 701 new cases.

Since Thursday morning, 50 people have been admitted to hospital with virus symptoms. The province reported there were 298 people receiving care on Friday after 35 coronavirus patients were discharged the same day.

Of that total, 10 people have been admitted to the ICU, for a total of 91 receiving intensive care.

As of Friday morning, public health was monitoring 6,478 active cases.

Two more people have been reported dead due to the virus.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 406,429 people have tested postive for COVID-19 in Quebec. Of those, 388,602 have recovered, and 11,349 people have died.

The positivity rate is now 2.1 per cent.

MOST NEW CASES, HOSPITALIZATIONS AMONG UNVACCINATED

A majority of those who tested positive or ended up in hospital were not fully vaccinated.

Of the 701 people who tested positive, 463 got their first dose less than two weeks prior, or hadn't gotten a shot at all.

That group accounted for 39 of the 50 hospitalized individuals.

Based on public health data, unvaccinated people are 33 times more likely to be hospitalized after contracting the virus.

Health-care workers administered 18,070 vaccine doses in the previous 24 hours, for a total of 12,995,354 shots in the arms of Quebecers.

Of the eligible population (aged 12 and up), 83 per cent are fully vaccinated, and 89 per cent have received at least one dose.

3 IN 4 CASES LIKELY LINKED TO DELTA VARIANT

The province reported a continued rise in cases associated with the Delta variant Friday.

Public health estimated that 77 per cent of cases recorded between Sept. 5 and 7 were Delta.

The province added 1,200 Delta cases to its tally of 18,518 since the variant emerged. That number is likely below the actual tally due to delays in sequencing.

CASES IN SCHOOLS ON THE RISE

Quebec schools are dealing with nearly 2,000 active cases among students and staff.

According to the province's most recent update on Sept. 22, 1,809 students and 169 staff members were carrying active infections.

Those numbers include students studying from home in both the public and private systems.

Since August 23, 1,118 schools have reported at least one case of COVID-19.

For a full list of affected schools, click here.