MONTREAL -- The City of Montreal is renewing its state of emergency for the next five days.

The city first declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 27 and has renewed it every five days since.

The local state of emergency grants the city exceptional powers to deal with the pandemic, in particular by giving it the ability to mobilize material and human resources to fight against COVID-19.

Montreal recorded 350 new cases of COVID-19 last week, for a total of 30,436, nearly half of the province's total cases (64,986). The city has also counted 3,476 deaths from the disease since the start of the pandemic, about 60 per cent of the total (5,780). 

On Monday, public health officials added another 39 cases, bringing the total at 30,475. No new deaths were recorded over the weekend.