Quebec registered 24 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 as the province began phasing out its vaccine passport system Wednesday.
The daily tally showed pandemic-related hospitalizations stood at 1,995, a drop of 57 compared with the previous day. This includes 129 patients in intensive care units, a decrease of three.
Officials say 130 people were admitted to hospitals in the past 24-hour period, while 187 were discharged.
The province reported 2,328 new novel coronavirus cases, but the number isn’t representative of the situation since only high-risk groups can access government-run screening clinics.
On that note, 23,053 tests were administered Monday.
Quebecers also continued to declare the results of their rapid tests online, with more than 712 tests added in a day — including 518 positive results. So far, more than 84,826 results have been registered and more than 65,000 of them were positive.
The vaccination campaign has given more than 18.2 million shots in the province to date, including 20,593 administered in the last day.
Quebec has logged 904,574 cases over the course of the health crisis. The pandemic has killed 13,790 people to date.
The number of virus-related recoveries topped 864,000 in the latest update.
The plan to gradually lift the province’s vaccine passport system also began Wednesday. Proof of vaccination is no longer required for for big-box stores as well as the government-run liquor and cannabis stores.
The vaccine passport is expected to be fully eliminated by March 14.
Major vaccination site closing
In Montreal, one of the province’s largest COVID-19 vaccination sites is set to close Feb. 24.
The regional health authority in south-central Montreal says more than 440,000 doses of vaccine were administered at the city’s convention centre over the past year.
At the height of the immunization campaign, more than 3,000 shots were given on a daily basis at that central clinic but has since dropped.
“We are currently seeing a drop in the number of doses administered at the mass vaccination site at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, where we administer an average of 400 doses per day,” the health authority said in a statement Wednesday.
A smaller site near the Berri-UQAM Metro station will open its doors on March 1. It will be able to perform about 500 vaccinations each day.
—with files from The Canadian Press