The City of Montreal announced Sunday it would extend its state of emergency by five more days as the number of COVID-19 cases in the city continues to spike and represents around 50 per cent of all cases in Quebec.
The city however said it has no plans to place any borough under lockdown, nor close the bridges.
At a press conference on Sunday, Montreal police Chief Sylvain Caron announced that officers will increase their surveillance of certain boroughs, particularly in the six areas that have the highest concentration of confirmed cases: Côte-Saint-Luc, Côte-Des-Neiges-NDG, Rosemont-La-Petit-Patrie, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Ville-Marie and LaSalle.
Caron said Montreal police presence in the city is currently doubled, with more officers out patrolling and more officers answering the influx of COVID-19-related calls.
The city said officers will be handing out fines to those gathering and not respecting social distancing measures.
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Caron and Mayor Valérie Plante encouraged the public to call 911 if they observe situations they believe pose a public health risk, but also if they believe someone is getting abused or neglected.
As of Sunday, the city accounts for 1,361 of the 2,840 cases in the province. Six of the 22 deaths were of people in Montreal.
The state of emergency that was first declared on Friday gives police officers new powers, including closing down non-essential businesses, intervening on social gatherings and imposing fines on people for not self-isolating when ordered to do so.
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