Quebec is reporting 989 new cases and 34 additional deaths Wednesday linked to the ongoing novel coronavirus health crisis.
Health authorities say eight of those deaths occurred in the last 24-hour period while 16 occurred between Feb. 3 and 8. Ten fatalities tied to the virus took place before Feb. 3.
More than half of the new cases reported Wednesday were in Montreal, with 499, and the neighbouring territory of Montérégie was the only other region in the province to report more than 100 new cases, with 137.
The caseload stands at 272,726 while the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of 10,112 Quebecers to date. Recoveries have now surpassed 251,000.
Hospitalizations related to the virus continued to drop. There are 918 patients in hospital, a decrease of 22 from the previous day.
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Of those patients, three more are in intensive care units for a total of 148.
When it comes to screening, the latest data shows 26,470 tests were given Monday. So far, the province has given 6,153,063 tests.
Health Minister Christian Dubé wrote on social media that the drop in hospitalizations is encouraging, but he is concerned that testing numbers remain low and encouraged Quebecers to get tested if they feel unwell.
“At the first sign of symptoms, you have to get tested,” he said. “This will allow us to identify the new variants.”
Health authorities say 3,174 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given Tuesday for a total of 266,590 since the inoculation campaign began nearly two months ago.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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