(Jonathan Montpetit · CBC News) —Quebec’s top public health official said Monday that a second wave of COVID-19 infections is underway, and joined authorities in Montreal and Quebec City in urging people to reduce their social activities as much as possible in the weeks ahead.
The province reported 586 new cases on Monday, the highest daily increase since late May, when the first wave of infections began to taper off.
“With today’s numbers, I’m still very, very, very concerned about the situation, to the point that I consider that we are now at the start of the second wave,” said provincial Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda at a news conference in Quebec City.
Earlier on Monday, the government placed three regions in the province — Montreal, Quebec City, Chaudière-Appalaches — on the second-highest alert level. They are considered orange zones under a provincial colour scheme that classifies regions according to public health risk. (…)