People line up at a COVID-19 testing clinic on Jan. 19, 2021, in Montreal.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Quebec is reporting 1,685 new COVID-19 cases Saturday as daily counts continue to decline.
The province is also reporting 76 new deaths attributed to COVID-19, for a total of 9,437. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped by 43 to 1,383.
The drop in case numbers comes after the Quebec government implemented an 8 p.m. curfew province-wide on Jan. 9.
Premier Francois Legault attributed the decline to the curfew, but has said hospitals are too full to lift the new restrictions as scheduled on Feb. 8.
On Saturday, Legault released a message on his Facebook page in which he said he recognized that Quebecers were frustrated with the restrictions, but called for empathy for essential workers, who he said are bearing the brunt of much of people’s frustration.
“This is normal, given all the upheaval we’re going through,” Legault said. “People are more impatient. At times, we have a bit of a short fuse.”
The premier added that there were encouraging signs that the situation in the province would improve soon, noting that Quebec finished vaccinating people living in long-term care homes this week, as well as 130,000 health-care workers.
The Quebec government expects hospitalizations and case numbers to drop over the course of the next few weeks, Legault said.
“There is hope on the horizon,” he said.
As of Saturday, at least 225,245 people in Quebec have recovered from COVID-19.
Elsewhere in Canada:
- Ontario is reporting 2,359 new cases of COVID-19 today and 52 more deaths, with nearly 63,500 tests completed. The provincial government also says it will expand a program of public-health inspections at big-box stores to regions outside the Golden Horseshoe.
- Tests confirm that the highly contagious U.K. variant of the coronavirus has been detected at a long-term care home in Barrie, Ont., linked to six deaths this year.
- Public health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting no new cases of COVID-19 in the province today. Nova Scotia currently has 20 active cases of the virus. Premier Stephen McNeil says Nova Scotians can be proud of the work they’re doing to keep the case numbers low. The province has had 1,570 positive cases and 65 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
- Public health officials in New Brunswick are reporting 17 new cases of COVID-19 in the province today. Ten of the new cases are in the Edmundston region, which will go into a lockdown first thing tomorrow. There are now 328 active cases in the province with five patients in hospital, including three in intensive care. New Brunswick has had 1,104 positive cases and 13 deaths since the pandemic began.
- Public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador say there are no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report today. The province has five active cases and one person is in hospital. There have been 398 positive cases and four deaths since the pandemic began.
- Manitoba is reporting three additional deaths of people with COVID-19 as well as 216 new cases of the virus. The province says a rapid testing centre is now taking appointments for all teachers and other school staff who work with students. The Fast Pass centre is in Winnipeg and promises same-day results. Eligible clients must be either symptomatic or live with someone who is symptomatic, or be identified as a close contact through an exposure at school. Manitoba officials report there are 272 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 40 in intensive care.