MONTREAL -- The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) is demanding that a crisis management committee be created in wake of the province's current COVID-19 situation.

"The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) has spent the last few months ignoring the alarm bells rung by health care workers and now seems overwhelmed," states a press release from Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade's office.

She is proposing that a crisis committee be created, made up of people on the front lines, union representatives, institutional managers and government officials.

"The situation is critical and [Premier] François Legault does not seem to understand the extent of what is happening on the ground and in our hospitals," Anglade said. "Staff is at the end of their rope and patients are not receiving the care they need. I am putting myself in the shoes of a mother who has a sick child and doesn't know where to turn. François Legault can't continue to turn a deaf ear."

Anglade insists the government should be focusing on improving work conditions for health care workers.

"[Health Minister] Christian Dubé must recognize the obvious: that parts of the health care network are broken and he must implement the solutions requested by staff on the ground to fix the situation," adds Marie Montpetit, the Liberal's official opposition for health. "Several solutions are known and after three years in government, the CAQ must finally act."

The party points out those in Quebec's health sector have put numerous options on the table, such as asking for patient-nurse ratios, reorganizing work shifts, improving work conditions and the return of nurses who have left the practice.

"Quebecers deserve to have access to quality health care from coast to coast regardless of where they live," Anglade said.

As of Monday, Quebec has recorded 6,603 active cases, including 679 new cases in a 24-hour period.

There are 280 people in Quebec's hospitals being treated for the virus, with 92 people in intensive care, according to the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ). 

See chart below for more data.