For updates on additional closures in Montreal, community transmission in Quebec, Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital banning guests from delivery rooms, Quebec limiting more regional travel and more, see below.
Quebec has 19 new COVID-19 deaths as of Sunday, bringing the death toll to 94, and the province now counts nearly 8,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
On Sunday, premier François Legault said as the number of cases and deaths continue to rise, the Quebec government will extend its shutdown of the province — which includes the closure of all non essential businesses, services and schools — until May 4. The shutdown was previously said to last until April 13.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is at 7,944 on Sunday, which is an increase of 947 cases from Saturday. The province currently has 525 people hospitalized with the disease, including 154 in intensive care.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Quebec police get new power to enforce social distancing, consider new COVID-19 squad
Legault said the healthcare system now has enough personal protective equipment (PPE) — gloves and N95 masks — for another 13 days. He said the province has enough surgical masks to last another seven days.
The premier said the province is doing what it can to become more independent and produce PPE locally as the global bid for PPE becomes more competitive.
Legault also announced some good news — Quebecers are respecting social distancing measures more than any other province or state in North America, according to data released by Google.
Quebec’s minister of economy and innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, announced the launch of a new website, Le Panier Bleu, a platform for Quebecers to shop locally and help support the Quebec economy.
Legault added that it’s now more important than ever to support local businesses.
Montreal announces closure of some public spaces
The epicenter of the outbreak in the province remains Montreal, accounting for 3,713 of the 7,944 cases in Quebec.
Montreal has seen a significant number of cases in Côte-Des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-De-Grâce with 323, LaSalle with 170 and Côte-Saint-Luc with 169 — the most affected areas on the Island according to Saturday’s numbers.
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Not too far behind, the boroughs of Rosemont–La Petite Patrie are at 166 and Plateau-Mont-Royal at 156.
Amid the crisis, the City of Montreal announced Sunday it has closed l’Île Notre-Dame, the Mount Royal park parking lots and the Atwater footbridge until further notice.
The decision came after Montreal Police officers noticed significant crowding in these areas, including the Lachine Canal where officers had to intervene.
Community Transmission in Quebec
Quebec’s public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda said on Saturday that health officials can confirm community transmission across the province.
Arruda said most people in the province who have tested positive for COVID-19 are between 40-49 years old, but most hospitalizations and deaths are of people above 70. There is one case of a person between the age of 30 and 39 who has died of the disease in Quebec, Arruda confirmed.
READ MORE: Montreal-based companies ramping up medical supplies to fight COVID-19
Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital bans guests from delivery rooms
Quebec’s Health Minister Danielle McCann confirmed on Saturday that the Jewish General Hospital had to make the decision to ban all guests from delivery rooms, including fathers and all partners.
The decision was made Friday after hospital workers in the birthing unit found out a woman’s partner lied about having symptoms to be present during her delivery.
Quebec closes travel to and from two more regions
On Saturday, Geneviève Guilbault, the province’s deputy premier and public security minister, said police checkpoints would be added to two more regions of the province to limit non-essential travel to and from these areas: Charlevoix and Rouyn-Noranda.
These regions are added to the eight other regions that officials announced would be placed under lockdown last week. Those regions are: l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Côte-Nord, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Nord-du-Québec and the northern territories of Nunavik and Baie-James.
Quebec’s low income essential service workers to get financial help
On Friday, the Quebec government announced low-income workers in essential services — such as cashiers — will receive an extra $100 per week for a maximum of 16 weeks. The measure is retroactive to March 15.
The provincial government also announced it will provide $150 million in temporary emergency funding to municipalities to aid entrepreneurs as they weather the storm.
Under the plan, Montreal will receive $40 million, and $10 million will be given to Quebec City. The remaining $100 million will be divided among other municipalities in the province.
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