Sherbrooke police crack down on patrons flouting coronavirus rules at 2 bars

Two bars in Quebec’s Eastern Townships region have allegedly flouted public health regulations meant to stem the spread of COVID-19, police in Sherbrooke said on Monday, as the province reported over 200 new COVID-19 cases for the second straight day.

Public health officials said 216 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 63,713 since the pandemic began.

One additional death attributed to the novel coronavirus was also reported.

Authorities said that death occurred between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5, and it brings the total number of deaths to 5,770.

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Quebec has seen a steady increase in COVID-19 cases over the past week, prompting government officials to repeatedly urge people to remain cautious and follow safety guidelines.

Monday’s figures come after police in Sherbrooke, Que., over 150 kilometres east of Montreal, said they had to intervene this weekend at two local bars where they allege patrons were not respecting regulations meant to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Sherbrooke police said they went to a bar which was hosting a karaoke night from Friday to Saturday and found customers were allegedly not following public health guidelines.

Police said they went to another venue on Sunday where patrons were allegedly not maintaining physical distancing.

Customers were dancing close to each other and not wearing masks when moving inside the establishment, police said.

Police spokesman Martin Carrier said the two bars are owned by the same person, who may face fines for violating public health guidelines.

The Quebec government has urged people to be extra vigilant after a recent karaoke night at a Quebec City bar was linked to dozens of COVID-19 infections.

Also on Monday, public health officials said hospitalizations went up by three cases over the past 24 hours, for a total of 105.

Of those, 18 people were in intensive care — the same number that was reported on Sunday.

Quebec said it conducted 12,737 COVID-19 tests on Saturday, the last date for which the testing data is available.

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