Quebec confirms 50 more coronavirus deaths as cases near 41,500

The Quebec government revealed that the province’s COVID-19-related death toll has reached 3,401, after announcing 50 more deaths since Thursday afternoon.

As part of his daily briefings, held on Friday from Montreal, Premier François Legault updated the provincial numbers, confirming 41,420 known cases and 1,822 hospitalizations, 191 of whom are in the ICU.

Currently, a reported 274,630 tests have turned up negative throughout Quebec.

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“As you’ve seen we are strongly recommending the use of masks. In particular, within the MMC [Montreal metropolitan community], taking into account the scope of the pandemic,” said Legault.

He said it “very important” and strongly recommends it in neighbourhoods that he calls “hot zones.”

The premier announced the Quebec government will be giving one million masks to the mayor of Montreal and $6 million to the city’s transportation sector with the purpose of buying masks. Legault said the new initiative is for people who cannot make them. “We will therefore make them available for you,” he said, “at least with these extra one million masks, we believe we will be able to freely give masks to those who don’t have any.”

After giving his condolences to the victims of the virus, Legault said “it’s been a while” since we’ve seen a lot number of deaths, referring to the daily toll.  “It’s important to see the trends, not just look at the one-day numbers.”

Legault added he’s hopeful that wage premiums for long-term care workers throughout the province would become permanent, hoping that it would help to put “more value on those types of workers.”

Graphique sur sur la répartition du nombre quotidien de décès liés à la #COVID19 selon le milieu de vie et la date de décèshttps://t.co/H5hxOkB9w6 pic.twitter.com/K0ahiFgV6M

— Santé Québec (@sante_qc) May 15, 2020

Canada’s coronavirus death toll now totals 5,449.