MONTREAL -- Quebec reported its lowest case count in weeks with 1,203 new COVID-19 infections on Monday.

As of Monday morning, there were 16,424 active coronavirus cases in Quebec.

The province also recorded 43 deaths, for a total of 9,521.

Of those, 12 occurred in the last 24 hours, and 31 happened between Jan. 18 and 23.

Recoveries outnumbered new cases, with 1,672 people reportedly virus-free on Monday.

Since March, 254,836 people have caught the novel coronavirus, of which 228,887 have recovered.

Hospitalizations dropped by six for a cumulative total of 1,321. Among these, the number of people in intensive care decreased by two, for a total of 217.

VACCINES

The province administered 1,960 doses of the vaccine on Sunday, for a total of 220,715. 

As of Monday afternoon, 2.58 per cent of people in Quebec have recieved a shot.

TESTING

On Jan. 23, the province conducted 27,448 tests, 1,457 of which returned positive results. This represents a positivity rate of 5.3 per cent.

Testing rates are released two days after the reported day.

Since March, Quebec has conducted 5,674,108 tests.

REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

Montreal was the most affected region in the province, reporting 478 new cases, down from 580 the day before. Since March, the city has recorded 91,334 positive cases of COVID-19.

Monteregie was the second most affected, with 219 new cases and a total of 36,631, then Laval (112 new, 21,460 total), the Laurentians (93 new, 14,057 total) and Lanaudiere (93 new, 14,057 total).