MONTREAL -- One year after the first COVID-19 case was reported in Quebec on Feb. 27, 2020, the province has now reported 287,003 total cases after it added 858 in the past 24 hours on Saturday. 

Of the total cases, 268,645 are reported to have recovered from the disease, 760 more than on Friday. 

The Quebec Insitute of Public Health is reporting that there are 7,973 active COVID-19 cases in the province, a decrease of 15.

The seven-day average for new daily cases is now 792.

On Saturday, the province also added 13 deaths due to the novel coronavirus, including five in the past 24 hours, six between Feb. 20 and Feb. 25, and two before Feb. 20.

Since the first death due to the disease reported March 18, 2020, 10,385 people have died in the province. 

The positive news for Quebec's health-care workers is that 21 fewer patients are receiving care in the province's hospitals than were on Friday for a total of 599 hospitalizations.

It is the first time hospitalizations have dropped below 600 since Nov. 15 when 591 hospitalizations were reported.

Of those in the hospital, 112 people are in the intensive care ward, a decrease of seven.

As the mass vaccination campaign continues in Quebec, 15,902 more doses of vaccine were administered Friday, which is 3,864 more than the 12,038 administered Thursday. 

In total, 418,399 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province (4.3 per cent of the total population).

537,825 vaccine doses have been received in Quebec.

On Feb. 24, health-care professionals in Quebec analyzed 28,226 samples.

REGIONAL DATA

Montreal again reported the highest number of new cases with 352 (105,872 total) followed by Monteregie (127 new, 41,682 total), and Laval (105 new, 24,553 total). 

Of the new deaths in the province, four were reported in the Laurentians (471 total); three in Montreal (4,502 total) and Monteregie (1,472 total), and two were reported in Quebec City (981 total).

One death was reported in Outaouais (159 total).