MONTREAL — The recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Quebec is due to private gatherings rather than bar visits, Premier Francois Legault said Friday.
Legault said public health officials analyzed the data and concluded it wasn't necessary to shut down drinking establishments.
"Public health tells us the main problem isn't in bars, it's in private gatherings," he said in Baie-Comeau, Que. He urged people to respect the province's 10-person limit on gatherings as many Quebecers begin a traditional two-week vacation period.
"We're starting the construction holidays, it's fun to be in a big gang having a party, but it's not the time to do that," he said.
New daily cases of COVID-19 in Quebec have climbed back above the 100 mark in recent days, including 141 new cases in the last 24 hours.
Legault said the largest share of new cases — 97 on Friday — were reported in the health-care network.
Speaking in the Bas-St-Laurent region, the province's public health director said big house parties in recent weeks have created a logistical challenge for contact tracers, who have struggled to track down attendees.
Horacio Arruda said some of the positive cases stemming from house parties on Montreal's South Shore had been in close contact with as many as 30 other people — some of whom they didn't know by name.
"It's there that we'll have trouble and we'll lose control, because each case that lingers and is incubating and becomes asymptomatic will infect another," Arruda said in Rimouski.
Arruda said only about five per cent of recent cases have been associated with bars.
Concern over rising infections led the province to impose new rules on bars last week. Authorities ordered those venues to limit capacity to 50 per cent and stop serving alcohol at midnight.
Last week, health officials in Montreal instructed anyone who had gone to a bar in the city since July 1 to get tested after some 30 infections were reportedly linked to at least nine bars.
Legault said that while drinking establishments could stay open — at least for now — inspectors would continue to supervise them closely to ensure proper hygiene and physical distancing rules are followed.
He said police would also increase their surveillance of private gatherings and hand out fines when warranted.
Quebec reported one new death from COVID-19 Friday, bringing the province's total to 5,647.
Despite the sustained increase in reported cases over the past several days, hospitalizations continued to drop. The province reported 17 fewer patients in hospital compared with the prior day, for a total of 260, including 16 people who are in intensive care, a drop of four.
Quebec said it conducted 14,952 COVID-19 tests Wednesday, the last day for which data is available.
A new rule that makes mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor public spaces in the province comes into effect Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2020.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
