Quebec reports increase in COVID-19 ICU patients for second day, 806 new cases

MONTREAL -- Quebec reported Wednesday that 806 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours bringing the total number of cases in the province to 284,472 since the pandemic began.

The number is above the seven-day average, which is now 784 cases per day.

Of the total number of cases, 266,138 are reported to have recovered from the novel coronavirus, an increase of 682.

Quebec added that 17 more people have died due to the disease, including five in the past 24 hours, seven between Feb. 17 and Feb. 22, and five before Feb. 17.

Since March 2020, 10,346 people in Quebec have died due to COVID-19.

The province removed one death from the overall total after an investigation found the death was not attributable to COVID-19.

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The number of active cases in the province is now 7,988, according to the Quebec Institute of Public Health.

The number of hospitalizations dropped again Wednesday, but ICU numbers rose for a second straight day.

There are now 655 people receiving care in Quebec hospitals, which is a decrease of 25, but 130 people are in intensive care wards, an increase of 10. 

As the mass vaccination campaign is set to begin, the province announced that 8,807 doses of vaccine were administered Tuesday, 1,407 fewer than on Monday.

In total, 376,910 doses of vaccine have been administered in Quebec (3.9 per cent of the population).

Health-care professionals analyzed 33,453 samples Feb. 22. (Quebec releases its sampling data from two days prior to its daily updates).

REGIONAL DATA

The Island of Montreal reported the highest increase in cases in Quebec with 410 new (104,722 total) followed by Monteregie (103 new, 41,362 total), the Laurentians (73 new, 16,077 total) and Lanaudiere (63 new, 20,039).

Lanaudiere is the fifth region in the province to surpass 20,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Laval (42 new, 24,254 total) and Quebec City (27 new, 22,256 total) are the other two regions.

Of the new deaths, four were reported in Monteregie (1,467 total), three in the Eastern Townships (300 total), and two in Montreal (4,489 total) and the Laurentians (466 total).

One death was reported in Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Quebec (496 total), Outaouais (159 total), Chaudiere-Appalaches (287 total), Laval (867 total), and Lanaudiere (492 total).