Quebec reports 769 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, 14 more deaths

People make their way along St. Catherine St. Thursday, February 18, 2021 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL — Quebec COVID-19 numbers continue to drop to levels not seen since early in the second wave last fall.

The province reported Saturday that 769 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours bringing the total number of positive cases to 281,456 since the start of the pandemic.

Of those, 262,506 are reported to have recovered, 1,077 more than on Friday.

The Quebec Institute of Public Health is reporting that there are 8,658 active novel coronavirus cases in Quebec, and the seven-day average for daily cases is now 797.

The province reported 14 more deaths due to the disease including four in the past 24 hours, and 10 between Feb. 13 and Feb. 18.

Since the start of the pandemic, 10,292 people in Quebec have died due to the COVID-19.

Hospitalizations dropped Saturday with the province noting 23 fewer people are receiving care in Quebec hospitals for a total of 700 hospitalizations. Of those, 120 people are in the intensive care ward, a decrease of seven.

On Friday, the province administered 15,386 doses of vaccine, which is 6,184 more than the 9,202 administered the day before.

In total, 329,324 doses of vaccine have been administered (3.4 per cent of the population of Quebec).

On Feb. 18, 30,068 samples were analyzed by health-care professionals in the province. (Quebec releases its testing data from two days prior to its daily updates).

REGIONAL DATA

The highest daily increases were seen in Montreal (334 new, 103,206 total), Monteregie (119 new, 40,971 total), and the Laurentians (117 new, 15,828 total).

After averaging 65 cases per day for the past week, Lanaudiere reported a subtraction of four cases Saturday (19,808 total).

Of the new deaths reported Saturday, seven occurred in Montreal (4,474 total), three in Monteregie (1,457 total), and one death was reported in Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Quebec (495 total), Chaudiere-Appalaches (284 total), Laval (860 total), and Lanaudiere (488 total).