COVID-19 in Quebec: As number of cases climbs past 4,000, Legault warns of protective gear shortage

• Quebec has 4,162 cases and 31 deaths attributable to COVID-19.There are 286 people in hospital, including 82 in intensive care.
• Montreal opened new shelters and outdoor day centres to reach out to homeless people.
• 2 residents at aLaSalle seniors' homehave died and at least a dozenmore have contracted the virus.
• Ambulance workers will now be the only ones responding to medical calls on the island of Montreal.
• Grocery stores will be closed on Sundays in April. Find a list of what's open/closed here.
• COVID-19 testing clinics inCte Saint-Lucand in Beaconsfield are by appointment only.
• The walk-in screening site at Place des Festivals is openfrom 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Quebec Premier Franois Legault says thenumber of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province has climbed to 4,162 more than half the recorded total acrossCanada.

The additional732 cases reported Tuesdayrepresents a 21 per cent jump in 24 hours,which is what public health officials have been expecting, based on the past week's trajectory.

A total of 31 deaths in Quebec are attributable to the novel coronavirus. There have been six more deaths in the past 24 hours.

There are now 82 people receiving treatment in intensive care, up only five from Monday a modest increase that the premier said was "good news" under the circumstances.

The province now has only three to seven days' worth of protective equipment for medical workers, such as masks and gloves, Legault said.

McCann said the province has gone through the equivalent of a year'sworth of equipment in only four weeks.

However, more equipmentis on the way.

At his news conference, Legault initially said his Ontario counterpart, Premier Doug Ford, had agreed to "transfer us some equipment."

Ford, speaking at his own news conference at the same time, saidthathe did not, in fact, dip into the Ontario system'ssupplies,only providing Legault with "leads" on where to get more.

When asked about the discrepancy, Legaultsaidthat Ford agreed to allow supplies earmarked for Ontario to be sent to Quebec instead.

Ford's director of media relations, Ivana Yelich, clarified further that the Ontario premier called Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and "asked her to fast track Quebec's share of federal supplies to the province to help rectify their situation."

"None of these supplies were allocated to the Ontario government," Yelich said in an email.

Numbers don'ttell whole story, Legault says

As of Tuesday, Quebec has 54 per cent of the 7,708 cases of COVID-19 which the federal government says have beenrecordedin Canada.

Legault said the numbers don't tell the whole story. The province's high number of cases is partially due to itstesting rate, among the highest in the world, he said.

The premier said the number of people being treated in hospitalis a better measure of the situation, and that remains manageable.

Ccile Tremblay, a microbiologist andinfectious disease specialist at the Universit de Montral's hospital network,said the province's early spring break also has to be factored in to the size of Quebec's outbreak. Many people returned from abroad with the virus last month, before restrictions were in effect, she said.

She said the recent daily increase in the numberssuggests"we're not at the top of thecurve" of the outbreak in Quebec yet.

"If we stop being vigilant, it could spread very, very quickly," said Tremblay.

When asked whether physical-distancing measures would be necessary until a vaccine is in place, Dr. HoracioArruda, the province's public health director,said it's still impossible to say.

"That's a good question," said Arruda. "Nobody has the answer."

Technicians on front lines

Meanwhile, Montreal firefighters announced they would no longer be first responders toemergency medical calls on the island due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Urgences-sant will only be sending ambulance techniciansto respond to medical calls, in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.

"Coronavirus in Montreal is spreading quite quickly, and one way to stop this spread of this virus is to avoid contacts," said thesector chief for the emergency medicalservice,Sylvain Lafrance.

The fewer people that respond to a call, the less chance there is of spreading the contagion, he said.

This also means Cte Saint-Luc's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) volunteers won't be sent out on calls.

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, said it'ssad that this service has to be temporarilyhalted, but like Montreal firefighters, the EMS volunteers do not have the specialized gear or training to respond to COVID-19 emergencies.

Big fines for young people out and about

In the small Quebec town of Thetford Mines, 100 kilometres south of Quebec City, two young women were fined $1,000 each for not respecting physical distancing rules.

According to Radio-Canada, police stopped three young women in their 20s walking in the street and warned them about the physical-distancing rules in effect.

They were not related or living at the same address. After speaking with police, the women promised they would go home.

But several hours later, when officersintervened ata residence to verify compliance with a curfew, the officers identified two of the three young women who had been warned earlier. They were both fined.