MONTREAL — The three respiratory viruses that had been wreaking havoc in Quebec hospitals this fall — COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus — are on the decline, the province’s public health research institute said Thursday.
MONTREAL — The three respiratory viruses that had been wreaking havoc in Quebec hospitals this fall — COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus — are on the decline, the province’s public health research institute said Thursday.
It’s unclear, however, whether meetings over the holidays will lead to a resurgence of one or more of them.
Quebec’s National Institute of Public Health reported 1,952 new cases of the flu in the seven days ending in December. 24. This number includes 1,943 cases of influenza A and nine cases of influenza B.
The data represents a 31% drop compared to the 2,837 flu cases reported in the seven days ending December 17. In addition, the test positivity rate fell during the same period to 17% from 22%.
Earlier this month, Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, expressed concern about the increase in hospitalizations for COVID-19, but so far, the number of patients with COVID-19 also has been decreasing.
For the week ending Dec. 24, the province recorded 700 hospitalizations for COVID-19, down from 900 in the previous seven days. On Thursday, officials said there were 2,059 patients in the hospital with COVID-19, including 711 people who were admitted because of the virus.
And for RSV, the institute reported 374 infections in the week ending Dec. 24, down from 455 reported the week before.
In November, health officials recommended that the public wear masks in crowded indoor places as hospitals battled the trio of respiratory viruses. And in October, the head of the pediatric emergency department at Montreal’s Sainte-Justine hospital said its emergency rooms were “completely packed with patients” with respiratory viruses, largely driven by the RSV.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 29, 2022.
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This story was produced with financial assistance from Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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