MONTREAL -- Quebec reported 234 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, 56 of which were identified as the Delta variant.

The total number of infections has now reached 379,673 since the start of the pandemic. 

The Quebec Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) says 72 new COVID-19 variant cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed variant cases to 8,734.

Of the total variant cases, 7,254 (+14) were the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant, 449 (+1) were the B.1.351 (Beta) variant, 564 (+1) were the P.1 (Gamma) variant, and 467 (+56) were the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant. 

Of the total number, Quebec says 366,523 people have recovered from the disease, an increase of 183.

The INSPQ is monitoring 1,909 active COVID-19 cases, which is 52 more than on Monday. 

There were no new deaths due to the disease reported in the province, which removed one death from the overall total as it was found to be not attributable to COVID-19. The total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic is now 11,241.

Hospitalizations and intensive care numbers rose on Tuesday.

There are seven more patients receiving care for COVID-19 in Quebec hospitals for a total of 62, and four more people are in ICUs for a total of 18.

It is the highest rise in hospitalizations since May.

On Aug. 8, 13,325 samples were analyzed.

VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

Quebec health-care professionals administered 41,543 more doses of vaccine, including 40,691 in the past 24 hours. Since the start of the campaign, 11,534,844 doses of vaccine were administered in Quebec, and 45,633 Quebecers received their jab out of the province.

Loto-Quebec announced the winners of the first "Being vaccinated, it's a win" lottery Tuesday. The next draw will be Friday with the winners announced Tuesday.

Of those eligible to receive a dose, 6,302,924 people (84 per cent of the population) have received one vaccination shot, and 5,259,941 people (70 per cent) have received both shots.