Quebec tallies 23 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations drop by almost 50

Quebec reported 23 new deaths linked with COVID-19 as hospitalizations dropped again Thursday.

There was a 46-patient decrease for a total of 2,326 pandemic-related hospitalizations. This comes following 191 admissions and 237 discharges in the last day.

Intensive care unit cases fell by seven to 85.

The province recorded 1,768 new official cases of the novel coronavirus, though the daily count is based on results from PCR testing, which remains accessible only to certain groups.

On that note, 19,286 tests were conducted at screening sites on Tuesday, the latest day for which that information is available.

Quebecers also continued to declare the results of their rapid tests, adding 552 to the province’s online portal. Of those tests, 452 were positive for the virus.

Health authorities say 31,995 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in a 24-hour period, for more than 19.4 million shots to date.

The latest roundup shows 9,377 health-care workers were off the job for pandemic-related reasons, down 137 from the previous day.

The province has seen 1,039,426 official cases and 14,951 deaths since 2020.

— with files from The Canadian Press

by Global News