Quebec saw an uptick in COVID-19 indicators after the province reported 436 new cases and 10 more deaths Thursday.
It marks the fifth-straight day that numbers are below 500, but it’s higher than the 308 total reported on Wednesday.
Authorities say one death occurred in the past 24 hours while the majority of fatalities took place earlier this month. Two deaths are from an unknown date.
Health Minister Christian Dubé took to social media to urge Quebecers to remain prudent ahead of restrictions being eased Friday across the province.
“The epidemiological situation remains stable, but as we know, the virus is still present,” he wrote. “Vaccination combined with health measures are our best weapons to curb the virus.”
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The province administered another 90,486 doses of the novel coronavirus vaccine. So far, more than 5.2 million shots have been given over the course of the campaign.
Quebec’s public health institute reports that about 57 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The number of pandemic-related hospitalizations fell by five to 394. This includes 96 intensive care unit patients, a drop of five.
Quebec has seen 368,899 cases and 11,115 deaths in total since the beginning of the health crisis.
Authorities say recoveries, meanwhile, have topped 352,000.
— With files from The Canadian Press