MONTREAL -- Quebec COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop with the Ministry of Health reporting that there are 12 fewer patients receiving treatment, and two fewer in intensive care wards.

The Ministry of Health said 285 patients checked into a hospital for treatment and 297 were discharged for a total of 3,283 hospitalizations, including 273 people in intensive care wards.

Of the new patients, 91 were under 60 years old with 41 of those unvaccinated, 30 double-vaccinated, five triple-vaccinated, and five having received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Of the 194 patients over 60 years old, 43 were unvaccinated, 69 double-vaccinated, 77 triple-vaccinated and five having received one dose of vaccine. Ten patients were under five years old and ineligible to receive a vaccine dose. 

Of the 20 patients transferred or admitted to ICU wards, 12 were under 60 years old with seven unvaccinated, four double-vaccinated and one having received one dose. For those eight ICU patients over 60, three were unvaccinated, three triple-vaccinated, and two double-vaccinated.

The province also recorded 33 more deaths due to the novel coronavirus and added 5,141 new infections from 34,971 samples, creating a positivity rate of 10.5 per cent.

The ministry is monitoring 1,623 active COVID-19 outbreaks.

VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

Quebec health-care professionals have now administered 3,191,123 booster vaccine doses (39 per cent of the eligible population), and 6,757,077 Quebecers have received two doses. 

Based on the number of vaccinated individuals, the ministry says those double-vaccinated are 5.7 times less likely to require hospitalizations than unvaccinated individuals, and 12 times less likely to wind up in the ICU.