GATINEAU, QUE. -- The Outaouais region of Quebec is facing another record-setting COVID-19 case count.
The Quebec government reported 290 new cases of COVID-19 in Gatineau and western Quebec on Monday. The previous high point was 178 new cases, which were reported on April 7.
It's a major jump from Sunday's report of 59 cases, a low point in a week that saw 862 total cases reported.
On Thursday, Quebec Premier François Legault announced the special emergency measures for Gatineau and the MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais would remain in place until April 18. The initial 10-day lockdown announced in early April was previously set to expire Monday.
Under the lockdown rules, elementary and secondary schools continue with online learning and all non-essential businesses, including restaurants for indoor and patio dining, must remain closed.
The curfew will continue from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily.
The Outaouais region had the second-highest daily case count in all of Quebec on Monday, behind only Montreal with 358 new cases. The Quebec City region saw 282 new cases.
The CISSS de l'Outaouais says there are currently 50 COVID-19 patients in local hospitals, with 3 in intensive care. There are 1,023 active COVID-19 cases in the region, 742 of which are in Gatineau.
To date, there have been 9,204 total cases of COVID-19 and 178 deaths reported in the Outaouais region.
There were 1,599 new COVID-19 infections reported across Quebec on Monday.
Correction:
A previous version of this article mistakenly said there were 260 new cases reported in the Outaouais on Monday. The actual number is 290.
We regret the error.
