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       A person walks by a COVID-19 vaccination sign in Montreal on Aug. 8.

       Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

       Quebec is reporting 527 cases of COVID-19 today and two more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

       It’s the first time since May 21 Quebec has reported more than 500 new COVID-19 cases in a day.

       The Health Department says the number of hospitalizations dropped by four from Thursday, to 87, and 30 people were in intensive care, a rise of three.

       A Quebec government health-care research institute says it expects the number of hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 to rise over the next three weeks, particularly in the Montreal area.

       But the Institut national d’excellence en sante et services sociaux says it does not expect hospitalizations to exceed dedicated capacity over that time period.

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