Another 98 Quebecers die due to COVID-19 as hospitalizations decrease
An additional 98 Quebecers have died due to COVID-19, a total of 12,639 since the start of the pandemic.
However, officials note there are 14 fewer Quebecers in hospital to be treated for the virus, with 3,411 people currently occupying beds.
Intensive care admissions remain stable, with 285 people receiving care.
Of the new hospitalizations, 18 are under the age of four (an age group not eligible for vaccination), 93 are unvaccinated or received their first dose less than 14 days ago, 11 have one dose of vaccine, 151 received their second dose of vaccine more than seven days ago and 79 received their third dose more than seven days ago.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé points out vaccination does not completely prevent infection, but it does decrease the risk of dire consequences.
The province's seven-day average is now 6,175.
On Jan. 18, a total of 43,139 samples were analyzed.
Quebec is reporting 6,528 new recorded COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 818,947 since the start of the pandemic.
Public health officials note the actual number of new infections is probably much higher as they have asked people with mild symptoms to stay home and isolate to give those in high-risk groups access to PCR testing.
VACCINATION CAMPAIGN
Quebec's health care professionals administered 110,351 more vaccinations in the province; 104,205 doses in the last 24 hours and 6,146 doses before Jan. 19 for a total of 16,801,574 doses.
Outside Quebec, 263,787 doses were given, for a cumulative total of 17,065,361.
As of Jan. 19, a total of 7,338,819 Quebecers, or 90 per cent of the eligible population aged five and up, have received their first dose of a vaccine and 6,717,855 people, or 82 per cent, have received two.
Of those eligible for a third dose, 2,942,947 Quebecers, or 36 per cent, have received it.
VARIANT TRACKER
The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) did not update the number of new variant cases Thursday morning.
The data current stand at 6,701 Omicron (B.1.1.529), 33,309 Delta (B.1.167.2), as well as 45,665 Alpha (B.1.1.7), 460 Bêta (B.1.351) and 610 Gamma (P.1).
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
WATCH LIVE | Sunrise ceremony opens daylong Kamloops, B.C., memorial to mark graves detection anniversary
A memorial to mark the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the detection of an unmarked burial site at the former residential school at Kamloops, B.C. starts early Monday with a ceremony at sunrise and concludes with a closing evening prayer.

Storm leaves at least nine dead, many powerless across Ontario and Quebec
Tens of thousands of people remain without power after Saturday's powerful storm that left at least nine dead and caused extensive damage throughout southern Ontario and Quebec.
Russian sentenced to life in Ukraine's 1st war crimes trial
A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced to life in prison on Monday in the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded three months ago, unleashing a brutal conflict that has led to accusations of atrocities, left thousands dead, driven millions from their homes and flattened whole swaths of cities.
Wreckage found of plane that disappeared in Ontario with Alberta men onboard, police say
The wreckage of a small plane that disappeared last month in northern Ontario with two men aboard has been located in Lake Superior Provincial Park.
What is a 'derecho'? Climatologist explains Saturday's powerful storm
The storm that moved across Ontario and Quebec Saturday is known as a 'derecho', a powerful kind of windstorm that is long lasting and far-reaching.
Walk out at trade meeting when Russia spoke 'not one-off,' says trade minister
The United States and four other nations that walked out of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting in Bangkok over the weekend underlined their support Monday for host nation Thailand, saying their protest was aimed solely at Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Trained dogs can identify COVID-19 by sniffing skin swabs: study
A new study that brought sniffer dogs to an airport to search for COVID-19 has found that dogs may be able to detect the virus with high accuracy just from smelling skin swabs.
Theories emerge for mysterious liver illnesses in children
Health officials remain perplexed by mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world.
A new billionaire has been minted nearly every day during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been good for the wallets of the wealthy. Some 573 people have joined the billionaire ranks since 2020, bringing the worldwide total to 2,668, according to an analysis released by Oxfam on Sunday. That means a new billionaire was minted about every 30 hours, on average, so far during the pandemic.