COVID-19: Quebec breaks another daily case record, hospitalizations up more than 100
Global News
Quebec says hospitalizations in the province from COVID-19 now stand above 800, with there also being 10 more deaths as cases continue to skyrocket.
Quebec is reporting another record-breaking number of daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 13,149 new infections.
Another 10 virus-related deaths in the last 24 hours brings the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 11,702.
COVID-19 hospitalizations saw another big jump with 179 new patients admitted and 77 discharged for an increase of 102. Of the 804 people in hospital, 122 are intensive for an increase of seven over the previous day.
On Tuesday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé announced that health-care workers who test positive for COVID-19 would — under certain conditions and on a case-by-case basis — be allowed to continue working.
Dubé explained the exponential growth of cases stemming from the Omicron variant means many health-care workers are being removed from the workplace, either because they have tested positive, are waiting for a diagnosis or were in contact with an infected person.
As of Tuesday, 7,000 health-care workers were absent because of COVID-19, with that number expected to hit 10,000 in the coming days.
Dubé said the province had no choice but to mandate the new measure, to keep the health network operational.
“If we had the necessary staff, we wouldn’t have to put this measure in place,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s about managing risks and weighing against any inconveniences.”