MONTREAL — Quebec's opposition parties renewed their calls for a public inquiry into the government's management of the pandemic after the province surpassed 10,000 COVID-19-related deaths over the weekend.

Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade said today Quebecers need to know why the province has so far accounted for nearly half of the country's deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said today an inquiry is the only way to shed light on the tragedy, noting that Quebec is reporting 116 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to 45 in neighbouring Ontario.

Premier Francois Legault is holding a public COVID-19 briefing this afternoon as health officials are reporting 826 new COVID-19 cases and 32 more deaths attributed to the virus, including five in the previous 24 hours.

Officials say hospitalizations dropped by 29, to 940, and 145 people were in intensive care, a drop of 15.

The province says it administered 2,816 doses of COVID-19 vaccine Monday, for a total of 262,594.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2021.

The Canadian Press