Quebec adds 14 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations drop by 37

Quebec saw another fall in pandemic-related hospitalizations Thursday as the province reported 14 new deaths associated with COVID-19.

The number of patients being treated for the disease totaled 1,562, a net decrease of 37. This comes following 97 admissions and 134 discharges in the last day.

Intensive care unit cases stood at 53, a rise of five.

The daily tally included 626 new novel coronavirus infections. The count is based on PCR screening, which remains off limits to most of the population.

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On that note, 12,910 tests were issued at government-run sites on Tuesday, the most recent day for which that information is available.

The health department says the results of 212 rapid tests were added by Quebecers to the province’s online portal, including 173 positive results.

The immunization campaign administered 14,160 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine the previous day for more than 19.8 million shots to date.

Meanwhile, officials say 5,039 health-care workers were off the job for pandemic-related reasons.

Quebec has reported a total of 1,060,045 official cases so far. The death toll reached 15,326 in the latest roundup.