COVID-19 still on the decline in Quebec with a decrease of 20 hospitalizations

COVID-19 related hospitalizations are continuing to drop in Quebec, with a decrease of 20 on Sunday for a total of 1,238

Intensive care numbers dropped to 76, a decrease of two.

As hospitalizations decline, the province says it plans to remove face mask requirements as of mid-April.

Nine new deaths were reported in the province.

Of the hospitalizations, 46 patients are older than 60, with 31of them triple-vaccinated, six double-vaccinated, two who received a single dose, and five unvaccinated. Two patients have an unknown vaccination status.

There are 20 patients below age 59. Four are triple-vaccinated, three are double-vaccinated, five are unvaccinated and one has an unknown vaccination status.

Two children between the ages of five and 11and five children below age four are in hospital.

As for ICU patients, three are triple-vaxxed, one is unvaccinated, and one has an unknown status.

According to public health officials, unvaccinated individuals are currently 7.7 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 and 15.4 times more likely to end up in the ICU.

CASES AND VACCINATIONS

The Health Ministry recorded 910 new cases of the virus, though these numbers are much lower than the actual number of infections as PCR testing remains limited to vulnerable and priority groups.

The province is currently monitoring 472 outbreaks.

Quebec is encouraging people to declare the status of their at-home rapid tests so officials can get a clearer picture of infection levels in the province.

Quebec logged 6,608 more third doses of the vaccine. To date, 91 per cent of the eligible population have received at least one dose, 87 per cent have received two and 52 per cent have received three.