Key updates from today’s press briefing on the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency:
The province has 38,469 cases of COVID-19. Half of those infected are in Montreal, which has 19,492 cases.
Province has just over 3,000 COVID-related deaths. Near two thirds of these deaths have happened in the Greater Montreal region, where 1,919 have died due to the disease.
Lack of healthcare staff remains the main issue in Montreal, which is why the Premier is calling for reinforcements.
Workers in the healthcare network who recovered from COVID-19 are asked to come back to their jobs.
“We need you,” Quebec Premier Francois Legault said, adding more staff may give much needed rest to those staff that has been working since the public health emergency began.
Over the weekend, the province adopted a decree which allows certain health specialists like dentists to collect samples for COVID-19 testing.
Currently, 780 trained soldiers of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping the province, mostly in long-term care facilities for seniors. In the coming days, the number of soldiers will increase to 1,350.
Elementary schools and daycares outside the Greater Montreal region reopened today.
“If the situation does not improve, it is possible that reopening schools in Greater Montreal will be delayed further.”
For now, schools, daycares and shops in Greater Montreal are scheduled to reopen on May 25. Today Legault said the reopening date may be pushed back once again if the situation does not improve.
“If the situation does not improve, it is possible that reopening schools in Greater Montreal will be delayed further,” Legault said.
Main resources
+1 877 644-4545: Government hotline for COVID-19
211: Multilingual social and community helpline
Click here to visit the ACCESS Montreal website for information about COVID-19 in languages other than French.
Languages include English, Arabic, Persian, Greek, Italian, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Urdu, Turkish, Portuguese, Russian, and Armenian.
