MONTREAL -- Quebec reported Friday that 1,269 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours bringing the total number of positive cases in the province to 138,163 since the pandemic began.

That number is slightly higher than the 1,209 seven-day average number of new cases.

The Quebec Institute of Public Health is reporting that there are 11,452 active cases and that 1,236 more people have recovered from the disease.

The total number of recoveries is now 119,727 or 87 per cent of the total positive cases. 

Since Thursday, nine more people have died due to the disease in addition to 24 who died between Nov. 20 and Nov. 25, two before Nov. 20 and three at an unknown date, the province reports. In addition, one death formerly attributed to COVID-19 was discovered to not be attributable to the novel coronavirus. 

With the 38 deaths, the total number of people who have died due to the disease since the start of the pandemic is now 6,984.

The number of hospitalizations dropped by six Friday and there are now 669 people receiving treatment in the province's hospitals. Of those, 90 people are in the intensive care ward, the same as the day before. 

Health-care professionals analyzed 32,266 samples Nov. 25, and have now analyzed 3,816,156 samples since the start of the pandemic.

REGIONAL CASES

The regions with the highest increase in novel coronavirus cases were in Montreal with 306 new cases (49,890 total), Monteregie with 198 new cases (19,585 total), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean with 146 new cases (4,871 total), Quebec City with 132 new cases (11,321 total) and Lanaudiere with 110 new cases (10,957 total).

On Friday, health officials in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean announced that rapid tests and two public health doctors will be brought to the region in the coming weeks in response to the alarming rate at which the disease is spreading there. 

Saguenay was hardly impacted during the first wave of the pandemic, but is now the most hard-hit region in Quebec. 

“The situation is getting better gradually, but obviously, there’s still community transmission," said Andree Laforest, the minister responsible for the region, at a news conference on Friday. “The situation is very serious.”

Asked whether the Saguenay region will be prioritized when a vaccine becomes available, Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda said the current plan is to distribute them to seniors, health-care workers and people who live far from health services all across the province. 

Arruda also took the opportunity to remind people in Saguenay of ways they can contribute to slowing the spread of COVID-19. 

“You almost have to consider everyone as being contagious even if that’s not necessarily the case,” he said. “You can’t even imagine the power that is in your hands.”  

REGIONAL DEATHS

Multiple regions saw high increases in the number of deaths reported.

Seven more deaths were reported in Montreal (3,610 total) and Lanaudiere (321 total); five in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-jean (116 total) and Quebec City (426 total); four in Monteregie (856 total); three in Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Quebec (263 total) and Chaudiere-Appalaches (130 total); and one more death was reported in Bas-Saint-Laurent (17 total), Outaouais (79 total), and the Laurentians (334 total).

ACROSS CANADA

As of 11 a.m. on Friday, there have been 353,104 confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country and 11,799 people have died due to the disease since the start of the pandemic. 

The following is a break down of the virus across the country:

  • Quebec: 136,894 confirmed (including 6,947 deaths, 118,491 resolved)
  • Ontario: 109,361 confirmed (including 3,575 deaths, 92,915 resolved)
  • Alberta: 51,878 confirmed (including 510 deaths, 37,316 resolved)
  • British Columbia: 29,973 confirmed (including 384 deaths, 19,998 resolved)
  • Manitoba: 15,288 confirmed (including 266 deaths, 6,177 resolved)
  • Saskatchewan: 7,362 confirmed (including 40 deaths, 4,176 resolved)
  • Nova Scotia: 1,257 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,078 resolved)
  • New Brunswick: 465 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 353 resolved)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: 327 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 295 resolved)
  • Nunavut: 159 confirmed (including 8 resolved)
  • Prince Edward Island: 70 confirmed (including 68 resolved)
  • Yukon: 42 confirmed (including 1 death, 29 resolved)
  • Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed (including 15 resolved)
  • Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
  • Total: 353,104 (0 presumptive, 353,104 confirmed including 11,799 deaths, 280,932 resolved)

-- with files from the Canadian Press.