QUEBEC CITY -- Quebec health officials are reporting almost 1,200 new cases of COVID-19 in the province on Wednesday, a major jump from recent days.
Health Minister Christian Dube first revealed the new case count in a news conference in Quebec City Wednesday morning.
The exact numbers were released at 11 a.m., showing 1,196 new cases in the province, and two deaths.
It's the highest daily count of new cases in Quebec since April 24.
Montreal public health officials held a news conference on Omicron and the state of the situation, urging people to get their kids vaccinated quickly, in clinics, without waiting for in-school vaccinations later this month.
Province-wide, net hospitalizations went up by 12, for a total of 239 Quebecers currently hospitalized with the coronavirus. There are 52 people in intensive care, an increase of one.
According to the province's daily number-crunching, unvaccinated people are currently 15.8 times more likely to be hospitalized with the virus than the vaccinated.
The number of active cases also continues to increase steadily, with the most recent count at 8,447 active infections.
The positivity rate is also on a general slow upswing and currently stands at 3.1 per cent, up from a recent low of 1.3 per cent on Oct. 25.
EASTERN TOWNSHIPS VERY HARD-HIT
Regionally, Nunavik continues to show the highest rate by far of infections, with 763.2 active infections per 100,000 people.
However, among the rest of the province, the Eastern Townships stands out as being in crisis as well. It currently has 248 active cases per 100,000, much more than the next-highest region, which is Chaudiere-Appalaches, with a rate of 140.
Laval, Montreal, Lanaudiere and the Laurentians also all posted rates of between 110 and 130.
