MONTREAL -- Quebec added 125 new COVID-19 cases on Friday along with a drop in hospitalizations.

The number of people in hospital has dropped by two to 60. ICU numbers also dropped by three for a total of 17.

The province also added one new death due to the disease, which was recorded before July 29. A total of 11,241 people in Quebec have died from the virus.

Another 87 people have recovered from COVID-19 from the day before, for a total of 365,105 since the start of the pandemic.

The Quebec Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) reports that the number of active cases in the province has risen to 951, an increase of 37 in the last 24 hours.

Health officials analyzed 15,505 samples on July 28.

VACCINATIONS

The ministry of health reported on Friday an additional 68,123 doses of vaccines administered in Quebec, for a total of more than 10.9 million since the start of the vaccination campaign.

To date, 83 per cent of Quebecers 12 and older have received a first dose of the vaccine, while just under 65 per cent of the eligible population has received their second shot.

People between the ages of 18 and 29 continue to be the ones with the lowest rate of vaccination with a first dose at 71 per cent. People between 30 and 39 are at 75 per cent, whereas every other age demographic is at 80 per cent or higher.

VARIANTS

Health officials’ warning that the Delta variant will be the dominant variant in Quebec is reflected in the latest figures from the INSPQ, which shows an increase of 72 new cases identified in the last 24 hours. In Quebec, there are a total of 356 known cases of the Delta variant, first identified in India, which is up from 284 from Thursday.

The number of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma variants rose by five, one, and four, respectively, from the day before.

There are a total of 8,512 confirmed cases of variant cases identified in Quebec to date.