Quebec Saw Up To 32,000 Daily COVID-19 Cases Last Week — A Montreal Study Estimates
Could the 6th wave be hitting Quebec faster than we think?
Pedestrians with face masks for protection from COVID-19 walking down a Quebec street.
It has been over a month since Montreal has entered its transition phase, leading many to wonder if the easing of COVID-19 restrictions would lead to a sixth wave throughout Quebec. Well, not only has the sixth wave arrived but it has seemingly returned with a slight vengeance.
Montreal-based research centre CIRANO released a study on Friday, estimating that Quebec saw between 18,000 to 32,000 new COVID-19 infections per day last week.
CIRANO has been undergoing this study over the course of several consecutive weeks — monitoring the evolution of Quebec's COVID-19 situation. The study uses both a direct sampling strategy and indirect sampling estimation to evaluate COVID-19 cases throughout the province.
The most recent study took place between March 24 to 29, 2022 with a sample of 3000 respondents representative of the Quebec population.
After conducting last week's survey, CIRANO's results indicated that there was an increase in the incidence of cases relative to the previous week (March 17 to 22).
La mise \u00e0 jour de l\u2019\u00e9tude #CIRANO visant \u00e0 estimer l\u2019incidence des cas de COVID-19 au Qu\u00e9bec montre une hausse par rapport \u00e0 la semaine pr\u00e9c\u00e9dente (collecte du 24 au 29 mars 2022)\nhttps://www.cirano.qc.ca/fr/actualites/1066\u00a0\u2026\n\n@n_demarcellis @Roxane_ @IngridPeignier @boisclad @VtBoucher @pcmichaudpic.twitter.com/gjaixGOWpv— CIRANO (@CIRANO) 1648803720
According to CIRANO and the estimation method used, the number of cases seen throughout Quebec last week "varies from 18,000 to 32,300 cases per day."
The increase in cases seems to be more present in regions such as Capitale-Nationale, Mauricie, Estrie, Chaudière-Appalaches, and Centre-du-Québec along with many northern areas of the province, including Gaspésie, Côte-Nord, Nord-du-Québec, and Bas-Saint-Laurent, to name a few.
Montreal, Laval, and the Montérégie regions of the province are also experiencing an upward trend of COVID-19 cases, the study indicated.
In addition to the rise of cases across Quebec, the data released by CIRANO also showed a minimal increase in the number of people in isolation during the week of March 24 to 29.
Il est important de rester prudent. Chacun doit agir de fa\u00e7on responsable, selon sa situation.\n\n Les personnes les plus \u00e0 risque de d\u00e9velopper des complications, en raison de leur \u00e2ge ou d\u2019une immunosuppression, doivent \u00eatre tr\u00e8s vigilantes.pic.twitter.com/vpMkZoRTzr— Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec (@Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec) 1648491150
With cases on the rise and restrictions softening, health experts are urging the public to stay safe.
This certainly doesn't coincide with Quebec's plans to remove the mask mandate by mid-April or reimpose health restrictions, as stated by Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé — making us all wonder...how bad could the sixth wave really get?
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.