MONTREAL -- Montreal public health officials announced Friday that 38 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
The total number of people who have contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic on the Island of Montreal is now 29,133.
There were no new deaths reported on the island in the past day, so the total number of deaths remains 3,447.
The City of Montreal also renewed its state of emergency by five days on Friday.
Quebec public health director Horacio Arruda was in the city Friday alongside Montreal public health director Mylene Drouin and south-central health and social services (CIUSSS) president Sonia Belanger.
"We are at a critical point of our fight against COVID-19," said Arruda, who added that it is unlikely the virus will go away anytime soon. "We should not be in a false sense of security with this."
Drouin said Montreal now has a "good capacity to contain the virus" as the city gets set for a potential second wave of the virus in the fall.
Drouin reminded citizens to be open with health-care professionals who ask for information when they call. She said people often don't want to release contacts or where they have been.
"You shouldn't feel guilty, you shouldn't feel ashamed to give this information to us," said Drouin, adding that all information remains confidential.
Arruda said that officials have learned a lot about the virus since the beginning of the pandemic, but that citizens must remain vigilant to fight it.
Due to technical difficulties, the city said in a notice, the only information available on Montreal Public Health's webpage today is the number of deaths and cases on the island and not a more detailed breakdown of where they're located.
