MONTREAL -- Montreal public health authorities reported Wednesday that the percentage of COVID-19 variants in new cases remain steady at 20 per cent, while the vaccination campaign is on track.

At a news conference, director of Montreal public health Dr. Mylene Drouin and Centre-Sud CIUSSS CEO Sonia Belanger said that infection, variant and hospitalizations rates remain positive, but danger is still not far away.

The population must adhere strictly to health measures to prevent a major third wave of the novel coronavirus, they said.

"March is the month of supression, so of course we have to be really vigilant in reopening different sectors," Drouin said, pleading with Montrealers to follow health rules and particularly to avoid gatherings.

Montreal remains at a five per cent positivity rate with an average of 325 cases per day -- and the lack of a new bump so far is encouraging, Drouin said.

"We haven't seen a major impact associated with the March break," she said. "This is quite good news."

Montreal reported 316 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases on the island to 111,511. Of those 103,669 people are reported to have recovered from the disease.

Since the pandemic began, Montreal has reported 4,581 deaths due to the novel coronavirus, which is 43 per cent of the overall total in Quebec.

Outbreaks, Drouin said, have dropped in Montreal, with 22 active in health-care settings, 35 in schools, and 43 in daycare centres.

"Those are small outbreaks," she said. "We only have two that are more than 10 cases."

The surgical masks newly added for elementary-school students last week seem to have made a positive difference, she added.

VARIANTS HAVE PLATEAUED SINCE FEB. 20

Drouin said 20 per cent of the new cases are variants, which she called "encouraging," since it isn't going up.

"We're seeing a plateau that has been there since the 20th of February," said Drouin. "This plateau is a combination of your effort and the aggressive approach of public health in the various neighbourhoods."

She said by continuing to follow the health guidelines, Montreal will avoid a major impact from variants.

Drouin said 80 per cent of Montreal adults have said they're in favour of being vaccinated.

She added that the AstraZeneca vaccine is part of the city's vaccine supply and will be used, and that issues related to the vaccine are minimal. She said the shipment Montreal received was not the same as the batch withdrawn in Europe.

"We know that in United Kingdom, there has been millions of people that have had AstraZeneca and we haven't seen adverse effects that were important, or those that are being investigated in other countries," said Drouin. "So at the time we're speaking, AstraZeneca is part of our tools to prevent severe form of the illness and to make sure that we are well prepared facing a third wave."

Earlier this week, a sizeable minority of Montrealers were refusing to get that vaccine.

"Everyone has to take the vaccine that is offered to them," said Belanger.

She also said hospitalizations have gone down since February.

"Things are calming down," she said.

During the last week in Montreal, Belanger said there were just two outbreaks in seniors' residences, both of which are privately run.

Belanger said that the vaccination campaign is going well, with 287,000 people having received a vaccine, including around 69,000 health-care workers, 11,000 public long-term care (CHSLD) residents, and 25,000 private residents.

Belanger said 75 per cent of those over 65 have received a vaccination on the island.

"We've reached our goal," she said.

Belanger and Drouin said public health is not keeping track of those refusing the vaccine. Belanger said that public health did not intend to keep a list of unvaccinated people, and that tracking those who don't want the vaccine right now may still get one in the future.

"Some people are not refusing the vaccine -- they just want to wait a little bit," said Belanger.