During his daily press conference this afternoon Quebec premier Francois Legault announced good news as the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to stabilize. The premier announced a further 82 deaths, for a total of 3,800, and 720 new cases, for a total of 45,495. On their own, these figures are not necessarily good, however the number of hospitalizations within these cases is on the decline: there are currently 1,504 hospitalizations, a decrease of 41 from yesterday, and of 124 over this last week. Furthermore, there are now 176 people in intensive care, which is a decrease of 7 from yesterday and 14 in the last week. “The less these [hospital] beds are occupied, the better the news,” Legault said. The premier continued to promote the use of masks as a means of helping the province to regain control of the situation and continue with plans to open back up again. “Our first priority is to flatten the curve,” Legault insisted.
Legault also announced that summer camps will open as of June 22, with added safety measures such as smaller-sized groups and social distancing in place. Legault encouraged young adults to sign up for open positions as counsellors, as a number of positions will be posted in the coming days and summer camps traditionally rely on students to fill such positions. The premier also noted the significant role day camps will play in ensuring work-life balance for parents who have been juggling work with childcare. It was also noted that children need to experience some of the benefits of deconfinement as well.
New testing opportunities in Montérégie
The Direction de la santé publique de la Montérégie has set up its first mobile COVID-19 screening unit in Longueuil, allowing the general population to undergo testing without an appointment. This unit is currently installed at the Le trait d’union community center at 3100 rue Mousseau in Longueuil. “This mobile unit will allow us to increase our testing capacity and is in addition to the screening clinics in the Montérégie which offer tests by appointment to people who call 1-877-644-4545,” said Montérégie Public Health Director Dr. Julie Loslier. The mobile screening unit will be moved to other sectors of the Montérégie in order to increase accessibility to testing in areas that have been affected by the pandemic.
