COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know Wednesday
Some individual, non-contact sports can resume May 20
The latest:
- Quebec has 39,931 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 3,220 people have died.
- There are 1,876 people in hospital (an increase of 35) and 194 people in intensive care (an increase of eight). Here's a guide to the numbers.
- Students can apply for COVID-19 emergency aid beginning Friday.
- Starting May 20, individual, non-contact sports can resume across the province.
- Travel restrictions to Quebec's North Shore have been extended to May 31.
If you're itching to play sports, the wait is almost over.
Starting May 20, individual, non-contact sports — tennis, golf, cycling, track and field, fishing and boating, for example — can resume across the province, even in the Montreal area.
Isabelle Charest, Quebec's junior education minister, said she understands that people miss team sports, and the province is looking at ways to allow modified versions of these activities.
Read more on the plans to allow some sports to resume.
Falling short of testing targets
Premier François Legault acknowledged the province hasn't met its testing targets.
He said the province is still conducting 9,000 tests a day, which is well below the target of 14,000.
"I'm not happy. I've told the responsible people that we have to reach the 14,000 a day [target] in the next few days," Legault said at his daily briefing.
He also urged Quebecers, once again, to follow social-distancing guidelines and wear a mask outside.
WATCH | The premier explains why wearing masks isn't mandatory:
Montreal's 'fragile' situation
Late last week, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) published new predictions showing what may happen in Montreal once physical distancing measures are eased.
It found that the current deconfinement plan in Montreal could lead to 150 deaths per day by July, without taking long-term care into account.
There's still so much uncertainty surrounding the illness and its spread. What is clear, the lead researcher for the Montreal projections said, is that "we're in a fragile situation."
Montréal-Nord still needs more testing
On Tuesday, Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda blamed the lack of testing in the province partly on a lack of people seeking out the tests in some of Montreal's hard-hit areas.
But the mayor of Montréal-Nord — where there is the highest number of cases per 100,000 people — says people have been showing up, despite confusion caused by the Quebec government.
Christine Black said in a statement late Tuesday evening she was shocked by Arruda's comments.
Black refuted that idea, noting a walk-in testing clinic at the CLSC on Lacordaire Boulevard was set to close Monday until the government announced, at the last minute, that it would stay open until mobile testing units were set up in the area.
Other info you should know
Allophones and anglophones are much more likely to fear that they or somebody in their immediate family will catch COVID-19 than francophones are, according to a survey conducted by Léger Marketing.
A growing number of hospitals outside the Montreal area, which haven't been designated to take on COVID-19 patients, are dealing with outbreaks.
Montreal is trying to ramp up testing in the city. If you are showing symptoms, this is where you can get tested.
