Quebec’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise as the province reported 1,394 new cases in their update on Tuesday morning.
Technically, this marks the highest number of cases Quebec has reported in one day since the beginning of the pandemic if you don’t count one day in early May when Quebec added hundreds of cases from April that had been missed due to a "technical glitch".
According to Santé Quebec, there are now 81,014 cases in the region, 397 hospitalizations, and 67 patients in intensive care.
The average number of new cases over the past seven days is now 1,081.
Montreal added the most cases of any region once again (442), with Montérérige in second place (223), followed by Quebec City (201).
“Big increase in the number of deaths – a consequence of community transmission and the progression of the virus,” Health Minister Christian Dubé said via Twitter.
“This second wave is taking victims. We must make the necessary sacrifices to have as few victims as possible.”
As of October 6, 1,542,321 tests have turned up negative throughout Quebec.
Seventeen new deaths were added today. The total of COVID-19-related deaths now stands at 5,899.
The report comes a day after Quebec rolled out Ottawa's COVID Alert tracking app which Premier Francois Legault urged Quebecers to download.
“To be efficient, we need as many people as possible to register," he said. "In Quebec, we are six million people with a smartphone, so I'm asking, right now, all those who are listening to go register right away. That way, we will create a chain of solidarity and the greater the number of people registered, the more successful we will be and the faster we can go back to a normal way of life.”
About 76 per cent of Quebec residents own a smartphone, according to Éric Caire, Quebec's minister for digital transformation.
"With cases rising fast among young Quebec adults, the time was right to adopt the app, Legault said. “When we see 1,000 new cases a day, it’s clearly because we have something to do. We have to take action. At 50 new cases a day in July and August, it wasn’t maybe my priority. Right now, to have an additional tool reaching specifically, or more, the young people, it’s a good application.”
With the free COVID Alert app, you can get a notification if you may have been exposed to COVID-19; get advice on what to do next, and tell nearby app users if you test positive for COVID-19 without sharing any personal information. Also worth noting; the app does not collect, store or access any personal data, or health information nor does it tell you if you’re currently near someone who’s tested positive. It will, however, tell you about outbreaks in your city or neighbourhood.
For more information, we recommend visiting the Government of Canada website.
