As of Sunday morning, cases of the novel coronavirus in Quebec are at 6,997, with 74 fatalities and 478 hospitalizations.

Montreal’s cases keep climbing as their number reached 3,261 on Saturday, an increase of 424 since Friday.

Test results numbering 83,230 have so far come back negative, and 3,879 people are currently under investigation.

Quebec Premier François Legault is expected to deliver an update on the novel coronavirus outbreak in the province on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Montreal announces closure of some public spaces

The epicenter of the virus has seen a significant number of cases in Côte-Des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-De-Grâce with 323, LaSalle with 170 and Côte-Saint-Luc with 169 — the most affected areas on the Island according to Friday’s numbers.

Not too far behind, the boroughs of Rosemont–La Petite Patrie are at 166 and Plateau-Mont-Royal at 156.

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Amid the crisis, the City of Montreal announced Sunday it has closed l’Île Notre-Dame, the Mount Royal park parking lots and the Atwater footbridge until further notice.

The decision came after Montreal Police officers noticed significant crowding in these areas, including the Lachine Canal where officers had to intervene.

Community Transmission in Quebec

Quebec’s public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda said on Saturday that health officials have confirmed community transmission of the virus in the province.

Arruda said most people in the province who have tested positive for COVID-19 are between 40-49 years old, but most hospitalizations and deaths are of people above 70. There is one case of a person between the age of 30 and 39 who has died of the disease in Quebec, Arruda confirmed.

Montreal’s Jewish General Hospitals banned all guests during births

Quebec’s Health Minister Danielle McCann confirmed on Saturday that the Jewish General Hospital had to make the decision to ban all guests from delivery rooms, including the fathers of all partners.

This decision was made Friday after hospital workers in the birthing unit found out a woman’s partner lied about having symptoms to be with her during delivery.

— With files from Global’s Alessia Simona Maratta

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