Quebec COVID-19 cases rise over 2,000 for first time since January, with six new deaths

Quebec's COVID-19 cases continue to rise, passing the 2,000 mark on Friday as the province reported 2,013 new cases.

There have been six new deaths, the province said.

The last time the daily case count rose above 2,000 was Jan. 13, as the province contended with the worst of its winter wave, according to retroactive data from Quebec's public health institute.

At the time they're reported, case counts are generally higher than public health officials later determine them to be, so counts of more than 2,000 continued to be recorded later in January and have since been lowered.

The rate of positive cases among all the tests done has also risen very close to the alarm threshold of five per cent, hitting 4.8 per cent.