A woman walks by a closed store in a mall in Montreal on Sunday. The closing of stores is one of the new measures put in place by the Quebec government.
Graham Hughes.
The first of three retail stores in Quebec that were not essential will be closed on Sunday as the provincial government tries to curb a new wave of COVID-19.
Hospitals and health-care resources in Quebec and Canada's remote northern communities are being stretched as case numbers explode.
The majority of the province's stores will be closed for three Sundays, with the exception of convenience stores and gas stations.
The president of the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce urged the government to lift the measures as soon as possible.
Milliard said that businesses don't need additional restrictions during difficult times. We must leave the choice to open or close the business to them, their employees and their customers.
Quebec reported 15,845 new COVID-19 cases, as well as 13 additional deaths linked to the virus.
The number of hospitalizations linked to the disease increased by 70. There are more people in intensive care.
Quebec City's main hospital network will be postponing half of its surgeries and medical appointments starting Wednesday due to a spike in COVID patients.
As many as 10,000 medical appointments could be delayed, allowing 50 nurses to be diverted to the Pandemic's ward, according to the President and CEO of the CHU de Québec-Université Laval.
600 nurses were missing from the workforce before the fifth wave of the Pandemic struck, and now 783 health-care workers are in isolation.
The strain caused by the growing number of cases is made worse by the fact that health care is already limited in remote communities.
Bearskin Lake First Nation declared a state of emergency after 43 residents tested positive for the virus. More than 40 per cent of the population had at least one confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 by Sunday.
"That's a crisis," the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief said in an interview.
Bearskin Lake has no hospital and is usually served by a nursing station. If the weather permits it, an emergency plane can get in and out of the area in less than three hours.
A federal rapid response team with three primary care nurses, a paramedic and two environmental health officers landed in Bearskin Lake on December 30. The First Nations Health Authority sent two public health nurses.
Intuctive communities are also affected.
The total number of cases of COVID-19 in just 10 days has risen to 199.
Non-essential travel to and from several communities, including Iqaluit, is not allowed by the territory.
Critical or essential travel is not allowed in or out of the 14 villages in Nunavik until mid-January.
