QUEBEC PREMIER DEFENDS VARIANT TESTING PROGRAM

Premier François Legault says Quebec may have detected fewer novel coronavirus variants than other provinces because it has fewer links to the United Kingdom. Legault is defending his government's progress on testing for new and allegedly more contagious variants after opposition parties said Quebec is falling behind. He said Thursday the higher number of confirmed cases of variants in Ontario and Alberta could be due to their residents' closer ties to the U.K., where a more transmissible coronavirus variant was first detected. There have been 10 confirmed cases involving variants of concern in Quebec, but Montreal public health director Dr. Mylene Drouin told reporters Wednesday that 35 additional cases in the city are suspected to involve variants. Legault says the province will increase testing for variants and warned their spread could accelerate. Quebec reported 1,121 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday and 37 more deaths. Officials said hospitalizations dropped by 44, to 874, and that 143 people are in intensive care, a decline of five.