Quebec is reporting 184 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the province continues to see its daily cases top the 150 mark, and no additional virus-related deaths.
This is the highest daily number since June 10, when the province reported 189 cases. Officials have reported an average of 160 new daily cases over the past seven days, compared to an average of 74 the previous week.
Hospitalizations and deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus are however not keeping up with rising cases.
Hospitalizations remain stable at 58 on Wednesday, and of those, 17 patients are in the intensive care — a decrease of one from Tuesday.
READ MORE: Quebec Opposition calls for COVID-19 vaccine passports as infections top 175
No deaths attributed to the virus have been reported in Quebec since July 22.
As for vaccinations, 49,337 more doses were administered for a total of 11.2 million shots doled out in Quebec since the start of the pandemic.
Quebec to receive final shipment of COVID-19 vaccine next week
The health department says the province will receive its final scheduled shipment of COVID-19 vaccine next week.
The province says in a release today that the 585,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine received this week will be the last shipment that will be distributed to regional health authorities.
A final scheduled vaccine shipment of 513,630 doses set to arrive the week of Aug. 9 will be held in reserve.
Officials say the reserve will be used to offer first and second doses to people who have not yet received them, to offer additional doses to people who received a mix of vaccines and to give a third dose if needed for people who are older or have suppressed immune systems.
Quebec currently has more than 2 million unused doses of COVID-19 vaccine, which officials say is enough to cover all those who have not yet received two shots.
This comes as some Quebec officials called on the government Tuesday to impose a vaccine-passport system as soon as possible, warning that if the province waits until September as planned, it could be too late to avoid another lockdown as the number of new daily infections continue to rise.
The push comes as students’ return to in-person learning in schools is a few weeks away, as well as the return to offices for some of Quebec’s workforce in September.
According to the province’s public health institute, 84.2 per cent of Quebec residents 12 and up have received at least one dose of vaccine and 69.1 per cent are considered adequately vaccinated.
Quebec’s COVID-19 death toll stands at 11,240.
Over 378,157 people have contracted the virus in the province and 365,654 of them have recovered.
–with files from the Canadian Press