MONTREAL -- In the news this week: Quebec responds to possible coronovirus outbreaks; Montreal restaurant threatened by animal rights activists; snowmobile tragedy sparks desperate search; Duceppe family seeking damages over mother's freezing death; and Mega Bloks closes Montreal factory.

Quebec health officials monitoring 5 people for possible cases of coronavirus

coronavirus

Five people in Quebec who had recently travelled to China and displayed symptoms of a respiratory virus have been tested for coronavirus.

Four have so far tested negative, the health ministry said on Thursday. The results for the fifth, and final person, are still pending -- though that does not mean the person has coronavirus.

'Blood on his hands': Montreal restaurant has been threatened by animal rights activist, owners say

Restaurant Manitoba threatening note

A restaurant in Montreal’s Mile-Ex neighbourhood has received a threatening note from a group of animal rights activists, its owners say.

The owners of Restaurant Manitoba, on Saint-Zotique St., claim they found the note earlier this week. They say they also noticed glue inside the lock of their door.

1 dead, 5 missing after a group of snowmobilers plunges through the ice near Lac Saint-Jean

SQ search

Five people are missing and one is dead after a group of snowmobilers plunged through the ice near Quebec's Lac Saint-Jean.

Late Wednesday, provincial police said they found two snowmobiles underwater close to where the snowmobilers had gone missing, near the mouth of La Grande Décharge on Lac Saint-Jean.

Duceppe family seeks $1.25M from seniors' home over freezing death of 93-year-old mother

Helene Rowley Hotte

On the one-year anniversary of their mother's death, the family of former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe announced they are suing the luxury seniors' residence where the 93-year-old perished after being trapped in a courtyard during a false fire alarm.

More on the story here.

Mega Bloks to close Montreal factory, 583 people to lose jobs

Mega Bloks

583 people will lose their jobs at the Mattel-owned Mega Bloks factory in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal.

The jobs will be phased out between September 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, as the production of plastic bricks and blocks to be assembled will be outsourced to factories in Mexico and China, it was announced on Friday.

More on the story here.