Quebec adds 17 new COVID-19 deaths as next reopening phase begins | Globalnews.ca

Quebec registered 17 new deaths and a slight uptick in hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 as the next phase of the province’s reopening plan began Monday.

Pandemic-related hospitalizations rose by 14 for a total of 2,095. This comes after 107 people were admitted in the last day while 93 left.

There was a dip in the number of Quebecers being treated in intensive care units. There were 136 patients as of Monday, a decrease of four compared with the previous day.

The province reported 1,431 new novel coronavirus cases, though the daily tally is not representative of the situation since only groups considered high-risk can access government screening sites.

Quebec issued 17,286 tests on Saturday, the latest day for which that information is available.

Meanwhile, the results of 80,807 rapid tests have been declared by Quebecers to date. Of those results, more than 62,000 were positive.

When it comes to immunization, 12,174 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given in the last 24 hours. The province has administered more than 18.1 million shots to date.

Since the beginning of the health crisis, Quebec has reported a total of 900,273 cases while the death toll has reached 13,710.

The province has seen 858,850 recoveries from the virus to date.

More restrictions lifted

Spas and gyms in the province were able to reopen at half capacity as of Monday.

Thousands of businesses were forced to close in late December when the government put a spate of public health measures in place to curb a Omicron-fuelled surge of COVID-19 cases.

Indoor sports and recreation activities can also resume starting Monday, including extracurriculars at colleges and universities, with a maximum of 25 participants per group.

Capacity caps at outdoor events are increasing to 5,000 people, while sports competitions and tournaments remain prohibited until Feb. 28.

—with files from The Canadian Press