COVID-19 deaths surpass 4,000 in Quebec

Quebec is reporting 85 additional deaths linked to COVID-19 today, bringing the total number to 4,069 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Premier Francois Legault says 42 of the newly reported deaths occurred more than seven days ago in Laval, a hard-hit city north of Montreal.

The province now has 47,984 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 573 cases compared to Sunday.

With a heat wave forecast for Montreal this week, the province says it's trying to come up with a plan to keep seniors in long-term care homes cool while avoiding more outbreaks.

Legault says he's happy the province managed reach its goal of conducting 14,000 tests daily last Thursday and Friday and would like to see those numbers increase in the coming weeks.

Provincial health authorities report that 14,654 people have recovered from the virus.