MONTREAL -- Quebec public health officials announced Tuesday that 62 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. 

Over the same time period, two people have died due to the disease. In addition, one death was reported between Aug.18-23 and one death in Montreal was removed from the overall total as an investigation found it was "not attributable to COVID-19," according to Quebec authorities.

Two of the new deaths were reported in the Lower Laurentians and one death was recorded in Lanaudiere.

The total number of deaths in Quebec due to the disease since the start of the pandemic is now 5,746.

The highest increase in positive cases was in Montreal which recored 16 new positive tests (29,638 total), followed by Estrie with 10 more (1,177 total), and the Lower Laurentians with nine more (4,162 total).

The total number of positive cases in Quebec is now 61,803.

The number of hospitalizations increased by three Tuesday for a total of 118. Of those, the number of patients in the intensive care ward remained the same at 12.

On Aug. 23, Quebec health-care professionals analyzed 9,231 tests, which was 2,141 fewer than analyzed Aug. 22.