MONTREAL -- Quebec shattered its previous record for new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period on Wednesday when it reported another 2,247 across the province. 

Wednesday's update is the fourth time Quebec has set a record in a span of five days. 

Since the start of the pandemic, 183,523 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Quebec. Of them, 19,381 are active.

The province also reported 74 more deaths linked to the disease, for a total of 7,867. Of the latest deaths, 11 took place in the past 24 hours, 56 are from between Dec. 16 and Dec. 21, five are from before Dec. 16 and two are from an unknown date. The province also removed one death from its total as it was not attributable to COVID-19.

Twenty-four of the latest deaths were reported in Montreal (3,788 total); 12 in Quebec City (605 total); and eight in the Eastern Townships (135 total) as well as Monteregie (989 total).

Seven deaths were reported in Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Quebec (339 total); four in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (198 total) and another four in Chaudiere-Appalaches (167 total).

Two deaths were also reported in each the following regions: Outaouais (101 total), Lanaudiere (381 total), and the Laurentians (352 total). 

Montreal reported the highest number of new cases of all Quebec regions on Wednesday, with 799 (total total 64,520), followed by Monteregie, with 311 (total 25,632), Laval, with 210 14,937), Quebec City, with 193 (total 16,095), Lanaudiere, with 167 (total 14,074), and the Laurentians, with 119 (total 9,786).

Hospitalizations increased by 12 from Tuesday to Wednesday and there are now 1,067 people receiving treatment for COVID-19 in Quebec hospitals. Of them, 142 are in the intensive care ward, which is five more than Tuesday's total. 

Health authorities reported that another 1,891 people were given the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine on Tuesday, for a total of 7,229. 

As of Wednesday, 156,275 people were confirmed recovered from COVID-19 in Quebec, up 1,602 from Tuesday's total. 

Quebec reported that it completed analyses of 36,498 COVID-19 samples on Dec. 21 (Quebec reports its daily testing figures from two days prior). 

This is a developing story that will be updated.