Quebec health officials continue to identify cases linked to a Boucherville day camp, which is located on Montreal’s South Shore.
There are now 19 secondary patients that are connected to the initial 27 cases that were identified among children and staff at Les Ateliers de Charlot l’Escargot.
Four additional secondary cases were confirmed in the lastest 24-hour stretch, according to CBC, who received confirmation from the regional public health authority.
The secondary cases are primarily siblings, parents and friends of the initial patients.
An outbreak was initially declared July 20. All children and employees who were at the camp between July 13-21 have to isolate at home for at least 14 days from their last time at the location.
Les Ateliers de Charlot l’Escargot joined four other day camps with COVID-19 infections on the South Shore, according to CBC.
The Boucherville camp will have to now stay closed for at least 11 more days, while the outbreak has raised concerns about the potential of COVID-19 spreading among children and staff once school restarts in the fall.
Throughout the province, Quebec health officials recorded 164 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with one additional death.
For a second straight day, officials announced that a data problem led to an error in the previous day’s update. Instead of 122 cases on Thursday, the province should have announced 139 new cases of COVID-19.
The latest daily update ends its two-day stretch of reporting fewer than 140 daily cases. The province has now reported at least 140 cases on 14 of the last 16 occasions. Before the recent stretch, it had not identified more than 140 cases since June 25.
Quebec’s streak of at least 100 daily cases continues, now entering its 20th straight day. It’s part of a worrisome trend, considering between June 26 and July 11, it stayed below 100 daily cases except on two occasions.
Throughout the pandemic, Quebec has identified 59,312 cases of COVID-19. That includes 5,674 fatalities and 50,886 people who have recovered from the virus. Of the province’s now 2,752 active cases of COVID-19, there are 189 people in hospital (down by 19) and 15 in intensive care (down by three).
Quebec’s testing numbers are reflective of its outputs from two days prior. In its latest 24-hour stretch, the province completed a record-high 17,293 tests for COVID-19, which is above its goal of 14,000.
Officials recently launched a “massive” round of testing, in which they investigated all doctors and staff in order to contain a outbreak at a hospital in St-Eustache. Since Monday, there have been 14 patients and 11 employees who have tested positive, with outbreaks reported in three of the hospital’s 13 units.
Montreal remains the epicentre with 28,772 total cases (up by 71), but the spread of COVID-19 also continues to gain pace in surrounding areas of the city. The Laurentides region has 3,877 (up by 34), the Montérégie region has 8,779 cases (up by 32), the Laval region has 6,052 (up by 17), and Lanaudière has 4,497 (up by seven).
