A total of 1,340 people have died in Quebec after contracting COVID-19, after health officials recorded 97 more fatalities in their latest 24-hour stretch.
The death toll surpasses Quebec’s most optimistic modelling data projection. On April 7, health officials said that by April 30, the province could see between 1,263 and 8,860 deaths.
The 1,340 deaths are part of the province’s now 22,616 total cases, with 778 new cases identified since Thursday.
There are now 4,724 people (an increase of 240) who have recovered, while 1,460 people are in hospital (an increase of 49) and 227 in intensive care (an increase of 20). Premier François Legault said there’s been an increase in hospitalization because they’re keeping some patients instead of allowing them to return to their long-term care facilities.
Montreal, the province’s epicentre, now has 10,897 cases of COVID-19, after 522 new cases were identified in the past 24 hours, to go along with 67 new fatalities for a death toll of 741 in the region.
Laval is the only other region with at least 100 fatalities, but there are six regions in total with at least 1,000 cases of COVID-19.
As of April 24, health officials in Quebec have seen 163,016 negative test results.
