Quebec reports 118 rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, 26 new deaths

More Quebecers in hospital for COVID-19 Another 351 people were admitted to Quebec hospitals to be treated for COVID-19.

MONTREAL — Quebec reported a net increase of 118 hospitalizations on Monday, bringing the total number of hospitalizations to 2,554.

The ministry of health says that 351 more patients checked into the hospital for treatment and 233 were discharged.

Of the new patients, the ministry reports that 234 were double vaccinated, 105 were unvaccinated and 12 received one dose of vaccine more than two weeks prior to check in.

Intensive care ward numbers dropped to start the week with nine fewer people in ICUs for a total of 248.

There were 14 ICU patients who were either transferred to the ward or admitted directly. Of those, seven were double vaccinated and seven were unvaccinated.

In Quebec, 6,499,512 people are reported to be double-vaccinated, 1,494,897 are unvaccinated and 553,403 have received one dose.

The ministry's numbers mean that those who are unvaccinated are 7.5 times more likely to require hospitalization than those who have been double-vaxxed.

MORE THAN 100 DEATHS IN FOUR DAYS

The province also added 26 more deaths due to the disease, bringing that total to 11,966 since the start of the pandemic.

In four days, the ministry says 120 people have died as a result of a coronavirus infection.

In the past 28 days, 329 people died due to COVID-19 with 232 of those adequately vaccinated, Quebec says.

The majority of those who have died, 275 people, were over 70 years old, and 36 were in their 60s, 18 between 30 and 60 years old and one under 30.

ACTIVE CASES DROPPING

The province also added 10,573 new novel coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 749,866.

The new cases came from 42,341 samples, making the positive infection rate 19.7 per cent.

The Quebec Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) reported a 16,808 drop in active COVID-19 cases since Friday. There are now 106,250 cases being monitored by the INSPQ.

There are 1,216 active COVID-19 outbreaks in the province, the ministry says.

Public health officials note the actual number of new infections is probably much higher as they have asked people with mild symptoms to stay home and isolate to allow those in specific domains to access PCR testing.

On Jan. 8, 35,084 samples were analyzed.

VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

Quebec health-care professionals administered 65,947 more COVID-19 vaccinations, including 62,722 in the past 24 hours. Twenty-four per cent of the eligible population (1,967,944 people) have received a third booster dose.

Those over 40 are now eligible to book an appointment for a booster dose.

Since the campaign began, 15,752,494 vaccine doses have been administered in Quebec and 255,034 Quebecers have received a jab out of province.