When the “critical” limit of 1000 hospitals was crossed in Quebec on Thursday, experts and health professionals sounded the alarm: this number needs to be stabilized and then reduced, otherwise many areas will have to do even more load shedding.
“It’s worrying, especially because the system’s resources and people are exhausted, we’ve been struggling with outbreaks here and there for months. During Christmas, we ask them more. Tell them it’s not so easy,” agreed Ellis Boulanger, a family doctor practicing in the Montreal area.
According to her, reaching the entrance of a thousand hospitals explains that the network is more vulnerable than all. “If this continues, we can show the hospital better and no longer get the services we need. Everyone expects people to restrain themselves more during the holidays so that the indicators can go down, ”the doctor said.
The main difference with the first wave is that family doctors still see their patients in clinics, they are very active. So, COVID-19 is above all else. It creates a lot of tension.
The dBack Elise Boulanger, family physician
As many as 27 new patients were admitted to health care on Thursday and 1,002 are currently hospitalized for COVID-19. This is 154 more than last week. Of these, 134 were in intensive care. At the same time, there were 1,855 new infections and 22 additional deaths in the province.
Health and Social Services Minister Christian Dubey did not hide his concern. “We have entered 1000 hospitals. That means hospital capacity is crucial in hospitals in certain areas. It is up to each of us to follow the instructions that need to be followed. [baisser] Hospitalizations, ”he wrote on Twitter. The capacity of a Quebec hospital for COVID-19 is estimated at about 2,000 beds.
Ill picture
For epidemiologist Nima Machouf, reaching a thousand hospitals is in a way a “triggered alarm”. “In the spring, we went to about 1,800 hospitals, and it was a disaster, but we were completely confined. Today, January and February are already very busy in the hospitals and as we move towards winter, it also indicates a higher risk. The network can easily overflow, ”She explains.
OmTo me Machouf recalls that the reality of healthcare settings is no longer the same. “During the first wave, most of the elderly died quickly. Now patients are younger, and they stay longer in resources,” she explains.
Before the holidays, knowing that we were on a steep slope and that we had not reached the plateau, reaching this rate was not a good omen.
Nima Machouf, epidemiologist
At UQAM, virologist Benoit Barbeau usually has the same opinion. “If most of this hospital was in Montreal, we would have a good capacity for care. If there is a very high ratio in small areas, it worries me if the tools are low. Then there is the possibility of a real crisis, ”the expert said.
In addition, Mr Barbeau said many health organizations were “already on alert”. “There is a need to be prepared for a situation that will get worse after the holidays,” he said, adding that it would be “very difficult to convince the entire population” that non-living people are subject to “crisis” rules.
Areas under surveillance
The 22 new deaths reported on Thursday were below average. Over the past week, Quebec has reported an average of 36 deaths per day. 9 of these occurred in Capital-National. The number of recent deaths in the Quebec City area is particularly high, with 56 deaths last week.
For its part, Estrey has denied five deaths. Chowdhury-Appalach ,s, Laval and Lanadier are two regions, one in Monterogy, one in Marisi and one in Center-du-Quebec. The 1,855 new cases reported on Thursday came in at a daily average of 1,815 last week. Keep in mind that the Quebec target is less than 1000 cases per day bar.
In Laval itself we currently report the highest number of cases per 100,000 residents. With 173 new cases on Thursday, the city had an average of 36 new cases per 100,000 residents. This is followed by the island of Montreal, with 561 cases reported on Thursday increasing to 29 per 100,000 residents.
Quebec reported on Wednesday that it had given 969 doses of the vaccine to a total of 2,582 people since the campaign began. In terms of tests, there were 38,486 Tuesdays for a total of 4.4 million since the outbreak began.
Meanwhile, Ontario recorded new record cases on Thursday – 2,432 cases. In proportion, Quebec continues to bring in more. The French-speaking province reports an average of 214 new cases per million residents, compared to 141 cases per neighbor. However, this trend is highest in Alberta: 363 cases per million population.
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