Quebec surpasses 300,000 cases of COVID-19 as health minister gets 1st vaccine dose

Quebec is reporting 702 new cases and seven additional deaths attributed to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis Thursday.

The caseload now stands at 300,152, one of the highest counts in the country. Meanwhile, the province has recorded more than 282,000 recoveries to date.

Over the past year, the pandemic has killed 10,576 Quebecers. Health officials say the tally was changed after an investigation found one death was not linked to the virus.

The number of hospitalizations dropped by 13 to 519. Of those patients, there are 101 people in intensive care units, a decrease of six from the previous day.

The vaccination campaign continues to ramp up with another 26,225 doses administered Wednesday. The province has given 832,469 jabs to date.

Health Minister Christian Dubé was vaccinated later Thursday in Montreal, where he said like many others he will leave the site with a smile on his face. He also said that he is certain Quebec will meet its goal of giving a first shot to all adults who want one by June 24.

Officials say 33,906 tests were conducted Tuesday, the latest day for which that information is available.

2:03 Quebec to loosen some COVID-19 restrictions as pandemic ‘stable’ despite increase in variants: Legault

— With files from Global News’ Elizabeth Zogalis and The Canadian Press