Coronavirus latest: Quebec surpasses 1,000 daily cases of COVID-19 for first time since mid-February

Quebec is reporting more than 1,000 new daily COVID-19 infections for the first time since mid-February, while Ontario is reporting 2,453 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday and 10 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Quebec health officials reported 1,009 cases Saturday and eight more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including two in the past 24 hours.

Officials say hospitalizations remained stable at 481, and 108 people were in intensive care, a drop of seven.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 814 new COVID-19 cases in Toronto, 411 new cases in Peel Region, 263 in York Region, 156 in Hamilton, 139 in Durham Region and 115 in Ottawa.

More than 61,000 tests were completed since Friday’s update.

There are 985 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario.

Despite the rise in cases over the last few days, the Quebec government says it reached the milestone of vaccinating 75 per cent of people aged 80 and over with at least one dose of vaccine.

The province says it administered 53,796 doses of vaccine Friday, for a total of 1,176,670.

Ontario reports that 77,740 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since the last daily update. A total of 1,916,332 vaccines have been given in the province so far.

In Toronto, residents aged 70 and older can start booking COVID-19 vaccinations at city clinics Saturday.

Elsewhere in Canada:

• Nova Scotia is reporting five new cases of COVID-19 – all of them in the province’s central zone. Health officials said Saturday the new cases all involve close contacts of previously reported infections, including one probable case identified Friday at Sackville Heights Junior High in Lower Sackville. Premier Iain Rankin issued a statement Saturday saying the province has dispatched a mobile testing unit to the school. Nova Scotia has 25 active reported COVID-19 infections, which brings the province’s overall total to 1,709 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
• New Brunswick is reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19 – all of them in the Edmundston area. Health officials said Saturday four of the new cases were under investigation while the rest involved contacts of previously reported infections. The province has reported at total of 1,571 COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began, and that includes 110 active cases, 1,430 recoveries and 30 deaths. Five patients remain in hospital with the disease.
• Manitoba is reporting that as of Saturday, more than 10 per cent of residents aged 18 and older have received a COVID-19 vaccine. The province says that in the last four months, more than 163,000 doses of three different vaccines have been administered. Public health officials are also reporting one additional death of a person with COVID-19 – a man in his 80s whose case is linked with an outbreak on a unit at Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital. The province says 57 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Manitoba as of this morning.