COVID-19 positivity rates climb, but outbreaks drop
Five boroughs reported more than 700 cases from Dec. 15 to Dec. 28
Montreal's COVID-19 positivity rate has climbed to 10.6 per cent from 9.3 last week, a sign the second wave has yet to crest in the metropolis, according to the latest data by the city's public health department.
The weekly report by public health officials paints a portrait of still-rising community transmission of the coronavirus in Montreal. On Wednesday, the city posted 754 COVID-19 cases within the previous 24 hours after three days in the 900-plus range.
Hospitalizations due to the pandemic illness remain high in the city. The Mcgill University Health Centre has transferred some of its patients from the Royal Victoria Hospital to the Montreal Chest Institute at the Glen site to free up beds for COVID-19 patients in the Royal Vic's ICU, a source told the Montreal Gazette.
Across the province, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations jumped by 80 to 1,211, another sombre record during the second wave.
Of that number, ICU stays inched up by four to 152.
“All indicators continue to go up,” Health Minister Christian Dubé tweeted. “Hospitalizations are surging, and we even crossed the 1,200 mark. The sacrifices we are asking Quebecers for the holidays are to help us control this second wave.”
Dubé publicly thanked federal health minister Patty Hajdu for requiring that all travellers entering Canada provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Details of the requirement will be released in the coming days.
Hours later, Dubé announced Quebec has received 32,500 doses of the second COVID-19 vaccine approved by Health Canada, and will begin administering the Moderna shots next week.
Priority for the vaccination is being given to the residents of long-term care centres as well as health-care workers.
Nurses have already administered 25,315 shots of the Pfizer-biontech vaccine.
But the news of the vaccinations was tempered by the reality of Quebec confirming a total of 2,511 cases in the province, the highest to date in the pandemic.
With a cumulative total of 199,822 cases, the province is poised to cross the 200,000 mark on Thursday.
The Health Ministry added 41 more COVID-19 fatalities to a death toll of 8,165, by far the highest in Canada.
Meanwhile, five Montreal boroughs have each reported more than 700 COVID-19 cases from Dec. 15 to Dec. 28. They are:
■ Côte-des-Neiges— Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (884 infections)
■ Villeray— Saint-Michel— ■ Parc-extension (862)
■ Saint-Léonard (776)
■ Ahuntsic-Cartierville (774)
■ Rivières-des-Prairies—Pointe--aux-Trembles (730)
However, authorities observed a drop of 52 COVID-19 outbreaks to 422. Most of that decrease occurred in the workplace, around the time the Quebec government announced new measures to curb the intensifying second wave.
The report found that the highest community transmission of the coronavirus — that is, outside of hospitals and nursing homes — is in Côte-des-neiges—notreDame-de- Grâce, with 453 cases detected since last week.
Drilling down further, it's the Côte- des- Neiges neighbourhood of Plamondon that posted the biggest number of cases: 211. The Plamondon neighbourhood is mostly composed of low-income and racialized households, with large families living in apartments.
However, Saint-léonard declared the highest positivity rate in the city, 18.1 per cent, up from 15.8 per cent a week ago, suggesting that community transmission is far from peaking in this northeast borough. Other boroughs with high positivity rates include:
■ Montreal North (15.4 per cent),
■ Saint-laurent (14.8 per cent),
■ Pierrefonds-roxboro (14.6 per cent) and
■ Anjou (13.7 per cent).
The total number of outbreaks in the health milieu rose to 104 from 97, reinforcing the view by experts that the crisis is flaring up in hospitals and long-term care centres. COVID-19 clusters jumped to 164 from 122 in schools. Although most schools closed on Dec. 17, authorities must wait two weeks before declaring an outbreak is over.
The total number of outbreaks in the workplace plummeted from 197 to 91, raising hopes that the second wave may plateau with non-essential businesses closed until Jan. 11. Still, the overall number of active COVID-19 cases linked to outbreaks in Montreal edged up to 4,074 from 4,038 a week ago.
A growing number of medical professionals are contracting COVID-19 in hospital outbreaks. A second source described the case of a Montreal health worker in her late 20s who now has blood clots in her lungs and is running a high fever.
The source, who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity to discuss the worker's COVID-19 condition, said the woman has decided not to be hospitalized and is self-monitoring at home with the assistance of her mother.
The worker is using a finger pulse oximeter to measure the oxygen level in her blood.
The woman's case underscores the extent to which the hospital system is being overwhelmed and the peril that health workers face. Government projections last week warned that Montreal hospitals could reach overcapacity as early as Jan. 12.