COVID-19 cases still climbing as curfew begins

The number of COVID-19 cases in Quebec continued to climb over the weekend, with the province recording a record-breaking 3,127 cases on Saturday and 2,588 cases Sunday, the latter number more in line with the province's seven-day rolling average of 2,645 daily cases.

The new cases came as Quebec fell under an 8 p.m. curfew Saturday in the province's latest attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In a letter posted to his Facebook account during the weekend, Premier François Legault urged Quebecers to respect the measures in effect and called for one last collective effort.

“Our hospitals are filling up with COVID-19 patients. Hundreds of people are in intensive care, fighting for their lives. Dozens of people are dying every day,” Legault wrote.

“We are approaching a tipping point where only the most urgent cases can be treated.”

As of Sunday, there have been 228,821 confirmed cases in Quebec and 8,686 deaths attributed to the disease, including 80 more deaths added during the weekend. A total of 195,663 people have recovered.

The number of hospitalizations because of COVID-19 dropped by 12 to 1,380 on Sunday, following a similar decrease on Saturday. Of those patients, 203 were in intensive care in data released Sunday.

The virus continues to spread at an alarming rate in Montreal. The city added 1,531 cases on Saturday and 1,071 on Sunday.

As of Friday, there were still 76 long-term care centres or private seniors' residences with at least one case.

The virus is also spreading through neighbouring areas. During the weekend, the Montérégie area added 782 confirmed cases while Laval added 438.

Vaccinations continued, with Quebec administering 13,101 doses Friday and 9,264 Saturday for a total of 84,387 since the rollout began.

“We have administered 74 per cent of the doses received in Quebec and the balance of 26 per cent is in transit in the health network,” Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé tweeted Sunday.

Dubé added the province is in line to meet its goal of delivering 250,000 doses by Feb. 8, the day the current lockdown measures are expected to be loosened.

In a subsequent tweet, Legault pointed out that Quebec is the Canadian province that has used the highest percentage of its vaccine doses to date.

We are approaching a tipping point where only the most urgent cases can be treated.”