MONTREAL -- Quebec public health authorities announced a dramatic increase in the number of positive COVID-19 tests in the province Saturday. 

Officials said there were 427 more positive cases confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 67,080. 

The last time Quebec reported 427 cases in one day was May 29. It was also the last time the province recorded over 400 new cases in one day.

In the past 24 hours, two more people died due to the disease. Three of the deaths happened between Sept. 11-17. 

The total number of deaths in the province due to the disease is now 5,797.

The number of people receiving treatement in Quebec hospitals decreased by five for a total of 131. Of those, 31 people are in the intensive care ward, an increase of one.

Quebec is reporting that 272 more people have recovered from the disease for a total of 58,490.

The number of samples analyzed by heath-care professionals on Sept. 17 was 29,079, which is 647 less than the day before. (Quebec releases its testing data from two days prior to its daily updates).