Advertisement

Coronavirus: Quebec reports 471 new COVID-19 cases as hospitalizations increase

Click to play video: 'Quebec government announces two more regions have moved to an orange COVID-19 alert'
Quebec government announces two more regions have moved to an orange COVID-19 alert
Quebec government announces two more regions have moved to an orange COVID-19 alert – Sep 22, 2020

Quebec reported 471 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the number of infections in the province continues to rise.

Four more deaths were added to the provincial death toll, which now stands at 5,809. Only one of the four additional deaths happened in the last 24 hours, while the other three took place between Sept. 16 and 21.

Hospitalizations continue to climb — an additional 10 people were hospitalized in the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 178. Two more people were sent to intensive care for a total of 30.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Quebec now stands at 69,088 since the pandemic began.

The province reported 21,736 people were tested on Monday — the last day for which testing data is available. Quebec has now done 2,136,944 COVID-19 tests since the beginning of the health crisis.

Story continues below advertisement

COVID-19 second wave ‘very different’: Quebec health minister

The second wave of COVID-19 in Quebec will be younger, more spread out across the province, and possibly more challenging for the health network compared to the first wave, Health Minister Christian Dubé said Tuesday.

Most COVID-19 deaths during the first wave were concentrated in Montreal-area closed living environments such as long-term care homes. The second wave, however, is being driven by community spread in regions that were largely untouched the first time around, Dubé said.

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: Quebec deputy premier clarifies role of police in enforcing public health guidelines'
Coronavirus: Quebec deputy premier clarifies role of police in enforcing public health guidelines

Quebec reported 489 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, one day after the province’s public health director, Dr. Horacio Arruda, announced that the second wave of the pandemic had begun.

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

READ MORE: Quebec at beginning of second coronavirus wave as cases jump, top doctor warns

“We noticed that the start of this second wave is not all like the first wave,” Dubé told reporters in Quebec City. Regions that were spared in the spring, such as the Quebec City area, “are now very affected by the virus.”

Story continues below advertisement

The second wave is also driven mostly by younger people who may be less likely to fall seriously ill but who are more likely to spread the virus in the community, where it is more difficult to trace, Dubé said.

Eventually, he said, those cases will make their way into the health network, which has been “weakened” by an exhausting spring and summer fighting the novel coronavirus. “People are tired. Our employees are tired. It was difficult, we gave them holidays, but that’s not sufficient. I think we need to protect them.”

Also on Tuesday, the health minister raised the alert level for three more regions. Dubé said the Laval region north of Montreal and the Outaouais region in western Quebec will be moving to the orange, or moderate, alert level. The Centre-du-Quebec region in central Quebec will move from green to the yellow, early-warning level, he said.

Orange is the second-highest level in the province’s COVID-19 risk-assessment system, which measures the risk posed by COVID-19 in specific geographic areas.

READ MORE: Quebec sees 489 new coronavirus cases as hospitalizations jump by 20

Laval and Outaouais join Montreal, the Quebec City area as well as the Chaudière-Appalaches region in the orange list, which involves tighter restrictions on bars and restaurants as well as lower limits on most indoor gatherings.

Story continues below advertisement

In orange zones, bars and restaurants will need to stop selling alcohol at 11 p.m. and close by midnight, while a maximum of six patrons will be allowed to sit at the same table, down from 10 patrons. Indoor private gatherings in orange zones will be capped at six people, down from 10 people.

When asked how they would enforce the measures on private gatherings, Dubé did not rule out giving police increased powers to intervene without having to obtain a warrant, although he said such a measure would be a last resort.

Minister of Public Security Geneviève Guilbault told reporters on Wednesday that police will not be instructed to go into people’s homes to intervene on gatherings.

“If we have to go there, we’ll go there,” Dubé however said on Tuesday. “I think we can do without going there,” he added.

Dubé also put out a call for retired dentists, nutritionists, medical technicians, midwives and other professionals who are interested to help with COVID-19 testing to put their names forward through a government website. He said the government also needs to recruit more contact tracers to meet the growing demand.

–with files from Global News’ Alessia Maratta

Click to play video: 'Quebec’s top doctor believes second COVID-19 wave is starting'
Quebec’s top doctor believes second COVID-19 wave is starting

Sponsored content

AdChoices