LThe number of deaths is therefore still 25. On Wednesday, there were 38 people hospitalized in the facilities of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, or three less than on Tuesday, while the number of people in intensive care climbed by one. cases to stand at 3. Since the start of the pandemic, 498 Estrians suffering from the coronavirus have been declared cured.
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No case of COVID-19 confused with influenza
Dr. Alex Carignan, microbiologist-infectious disease specialist at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, unveiled on Wednesday the results of the tests carried out in the last days to determine if COVID-19 was circulating in the Estrie before March 12, one of the hypotheses put forward to explain why the region was one of the hardest hit at the start of the crisis.
However, no positive coronavirus test was found on 1,440 samples initially used to detect influenza and taken between January 1 and February 20, 2020.
“We can say with certainty that the new coronavirus did not circulate in Estrie between January 1 and February 20, 2020. The clinical indications for the two tests, either fever and / or cough, are very similar. We can therefore think that we would have found SARS-CoV-2 in these samples if it had circulated among us during this period, ”explains the professor-researcher at the University of Sherbrooke.
How then to explain that Estrie was one of the regions most affected at the beginning?
“It seems to connect with travelers. There are probably cases in certain clusters including that of Racine, or cases in Cowansville and Granby, which were not consulted and therefore were not diagnosed and placed in containment. They contributed to the amplification of the virus in group events with several people and the latter, because they had not returned from a trip or had been delayed in their diagnosis, carried out a rather early amplification in Estrie, but it doesn’t seem to go beyond that, ”says Dr. Carignan.
The professor-researcher believes that Quebec would benefit from carrying out the same kind of tests across the province.
“It is an exercise that would be interesting, especially in Montreal. That said, these tests should not monopolize tests for patients, whereas here the exercise was carried out in laboratories at the University of Sherbrooke, ”says Dr Carignan.
This retrospective analysis was performed with the brand new Sherby-20 reagent. This reagent was developed just a few weeks ago by research professionals and laboratory coordinators from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of UdeS, Mathieu Durand and Bruno Lemieux, as well as professors and doctors from the microbiology laboratory of the Fleurimont Hospital of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, Simon Lévesque, Philippe Martin and M. Carignan.
New walk-in screening center
Already on Wednesday at noon, about fifty people had turned up at the new walk-in screening center which opened its doors on Tuesday at 500 Murray Street.
Remember that users who are eligible to take the test are expected every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To get tested, people will need to have one of the following symptoms: fever, or recent cough, or increased chronic cough, or difficulty breathing, or sudden loss of smell or taste.
The target population is also those who present two of the following symptoms: sore throat, diarrhea, general discomfort such as muscle pain, headache, severe fatigue or loss of appetite. With Claude Plante
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