MONTREAL – A 19-year-old in Quebec has died of COVID-19 headaches, the fitness ministry showed on Friday, marking the first time since the pandemic that a 20-year-old user in the province has succumbed to the disease.
Spokeswoman Marie-Claude Lacasse said in a statement that the Health Ministry simply cannot release any information about the identity of the deceased, nor the main points of the death.
The province said 3,279 other people between the ages of 10 and 19 have tested positive for COVID-19 to date. Among those cases, another 31 people had to be hospitalized, adding six in intensive care.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu presented her condolences to the 19-year-old’s family circle on Friday, as did Quebec Prime Minister François Legault.
“It’s hard to find words about the suffering this circle of relatives faces right now,” Hajdu said at a press convention in Ottawa.
“It’s disturbing, it’s disturbing,” Legault told reporters northeast of Montreal about the young man’s death.
“(COVID-19) attacks other more vulnerable people, other elderly people, but other young people are not immune,” the Prime Minister said, emphasizing the desire to wear a mask to prevent the possible spread of the fatal virus.
Dr. Brian Ward, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the McGill University Health Center, said that while COVID-19 poses a major threat to older people and others with physical fitness issues, other young people can still get seriously ill from the disease.
“This is not the first death in the world of under-20s,” Ward said in an interview Friday. “And so, as long as Canada continues to accumulate cases, we can expect more deaths across the age range. “
Dr. Earl Rubin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Montreal Children’s Hospital, said the death of other young people by COVID-19 is a “very rare event” and that most positive young people do not want to be hospitalized.
But, he said, the 19-year-old’s death can serve as a reminder for other young people to meet physical fitness guidelines.
“It’s a call for attention that (COVID-19) remains a disease they want to be aware of and do everything they can to mitigate the chances of getting it and then pass it on to others,” Rubin said in an interview. . Friday.
“It just reinforces the fact that we are far from out of the woods and with a potentially wave moment upon us, it is vital to be aware of and informed about it, more than anything else. “
Meanwhile, Quebec reported 93 new instances of COVID-19 on Friday, for a total of 61,495. Public fitness officials also reported three other deaths attributed to COVID-19. They said a death occurred in the last 24 hours, while two more occurred between August 14 and 20.
Quebec has reported a total of 5,733 deaths related to the new coronavirus.
On Friday, the number of hospitalizations was reduced from 10 to a total of 136. Of these, 23 other people are in intensive care, two less than a day before. Authorities said they carried out 16,164 COVID-19 checks on Wednesday, the last day for which verification knowledge is available.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 21, 2020.