Quebec’s daily COVID-19 rate could soon reach 2,000 again, François Legault says

Quebec’s COVID-19 infection rate could soon return to 2,000 cases per day, Premier François Legault said on Monday.

Legault told reporters he expects infections and hospitalizations to continue rising in the coming weeks amid the start of the fourth wave.

“We’re not on a different planet. Cases are rising everywhere,” Legault said. “We’re worried.”

The premier said that based on what’s happening in some European countries and American states, the daily case count could reach 1,000 or 2,000 per day in the province. Case numbers have been steadily rising in recent weeks, driven by the more contagious Delta variant.

READ MORE: Quebec records 1,163 new COVID-19 cases over past 3 days

Quebec reported 409 new COVID-19 cases on Monday as infections continued to climb across the country.

Since Aug. 1, pandemic-linked hospitalizations have risen by 21, to 82.

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“The situation is worrying in certain regions — notably Montreal, Laval and Lanaudière,” Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said on Twitter.

READ MORE: Quebec vaccine passport elicits protest

Legault said the “famous” 16 per cent of Quebecers who aren’t vaccinated are — and will be at very high risk — as the fourth wave continues to pick up.

He added that the province doesn’t want to lock down again and to not shutter businesses, which is why it is implementing the vaccine passport as of September.

According to the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), two of the three people in Quebec whose deaths were linked to COVID-19 this month were between 30 and 39.

The INSPQ said Monday that 73.5 per cent of residents 12 and older are considered adequately vaccinated.

–with files from Kalina Laframboise, Global News and The Canadian Press

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