MONTREAL -- As three regions in the province prepare to have their alert level potentially raised from yellow to orange, Quebec public health authorities announced Sunday that 462 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the province.

It is the second day in a row where the number of new cases has been over 400 after 427 people were reported to have tested positive Saturday.

The new cases brings the total number of cases in the province to 67,542.

The Island of Montreal accounted for 160 of the positive tests (31,309 total), while the Quebec City region reported 92 more cases (2,969 total), Monteregie reported 58 more cases (9,938 total) and Laval reported 32 more cases (6,668 total).

In the past 24 hours, one more person died due to the disease in addition to four people who died between Sept. 13-18. 

Officials reported two people died in the Chaudiere-Appalaches region, and one person died in Quebec City, Laval and Monteregie.

The total number of people who have died due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic is now 5,802.

The number of hospitalizations increased by seven Sunday to 138, and 31 of those patients are in the intensive care ward (the same number as on Saturday).

On Sept. 18, health-care professionals analyzed 28,725 samples which is 354 fewer than the number analyzed Sept. 17. (Quebec releases its testing data from two days prior to its daily updates).