19-year-old in Quebec dies from COVID-19

A 19-year-old in Quebec has died from complications linked to COVID-19, the province's Health Department confirmed Friday.

The case marks the first time someone under the age of 20 has died from COVID-19 in Quebec since the pandemic began, spokeswoman Marie-Claude Lacasse said in an emailed statement.

Lacasse said the Health Department cannot release any information about the identity of the person who died, or any details about the death.

The province said 3,279 people between the ages of 10 and 19 have tested positive for the novel coronavirus to date.

Among those cases, 31 people needed to be hospitalized, including six who were in intensive care.

Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu offered her condolences to the family of the 19-year-old Friday.

"It's hard to find words for how much suffering that family must be going through right now," she told a news conference.

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, told reporters Friday the 19-year-old's death is a reminder young people are not immune from COVID-19.

The young man's death, she said, "is a reminder that if we don't keep the (COVID-19 infection) rate in this (young) population as low as possible, even rare, serious outcomes could occur."

Meanwhile, Quebec reported 93 new COVID-19 cases Friday, for a total of 61,495.

Public health officials also reported three more deaths attributed to COVID-19. They said one death occurred in the past 24 hours while two others occurred between Aug. 14-20.

Quebec has reported a total of 5,733 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

The number of hospitalizations dropped by 10 to a total of 136 on Friday. Of those, 23 people are in intensive care, two fewer than a day earlier.

Authorities said they conducted 16,164 COVID-19 tests Wednesday, the last day for which testing data is available.