Quebec must ‘be careful’ as province adds 145 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, premier says

Quebec registered 35 new deaths linked to COVID-19 as the province saw a 145-patient increase Tuesday.

Pandemic-related hospitalizations came to a total of 1,938 after 294 people were admitted in the last day, while 149 were discharged.

Officials say 67 people were being treated for the disease in intensive care units, a drop of two.

The province also reported 2,596 new novel coronavirus infections, but the daily tally is only a partial portrait of the situation since access to PCR testing remains limited.

Health authorities say 16,236 tests were given at government-run sites Sunday, the most recent day for which that data is available.

Trending Stories

Meanwhile, the results of 1,347 rapid tests were declared by Quebecers on the province’s online portal. Of those, 1,129 were positive for the virus.

The immunization campaign administered 25,602 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in a 24-hour period. To date, more than 18.9 million shots have been issued.

Since the start of the pandemic, Quebec has reported 1,003,491 official cases and 14,579 deaths. The number of recoveries from the virus topped 958,000 as of Tuesday.

The province’s public health institute says Quebec has an average of about 350 active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.

The James Bay Cree territory has 206 active reported cases. This represents the highest infection rate in the province, with more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 people.

The Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the Bas-St-Laurent regions, in eastern Quebec, each have more than 700 active cases per 100,000 people.

— with files from The Canadian Press