MONTREAL -- Quebec public health authorities reported Sunday that 166 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. It is the highest increase in cases since June 7 when 171 new cases were reported.
The new numbers come after the province's mandatory face covering rule for indoor public places came into effect Saturday.
The total number of positive cases since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic is now 57,466.
Three regions continue to be hit hard.
Of the new cases, the largest increase was in Monteregie which recorded 52 new cases for a total of 8,395. Forty-nine new cases were reported in Montreal, which has now had 28,000 positive cases since the start of the pandemic. The Lanaudiere region also continues to see relatively large increases with 26 more positive cases reported Sunday for a total of 4,381.
The province also announced that one more person has died due to the virus bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 5,655. The death was reported in the Laurentides region.
The number of people receiving treatment in Quebec's hospitals rose by three to bring that total to 251. Of those, 18 people are in the intensive care ward, an increase of three.
The number of samples analyzed July 17 was 14,909, which is 349 fewer than the 15,258 analyzed July 16. (Quebec releases testing information from two days prior to the daily updates).
