According to estimates from the Institut de la statistique du Québec, more people died than were born in the province during the worst months of the pandemic. The only other time since 2010 that that's ever happened was in January and February 2018.

While overall in 2020 more people were born than died, from April to June, the deadliest months of the first wave, the institute estimates that there were 21,000 deaths in Quebec compared to only 20,750 births.

The Institut notes that 2020 and 2021 figures on deaths are in part estimates rounded to the nearest 50.

The difference between deaths and births was most stark in April 2020. The figures indicate that 8,000 Quebecers died in April 2020 and 6,950 people were born in the province. 650 more people died in May 2020 than were born.

Births eventually overcame the number of estimated deaths later in the year. And while the number of deaths was staggering, 81,850 people were born in Quebec in 2020, while 74,550 died in Quebec, according to the estimate.

2020 saw the highest number of overall deaths in Quebec in the past 10 years.

January 2021 also saw more people die than were born in Quebec, with 7,050 deaths compared to 6,350 births. But it's not all doom and gloom as, throughout 2021, there were more births than deaths in the province. The full overall statistics for 2021 aren't out yet, as the Institut de la statistique du Québec hasn't calculated November 2021 and December 2021 yet.

But perhaps things will be looking up in 2022. There's still a curfew and hospitals are overloaded, of course, but one thing at a time.