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| - Officials in Quebec, the Canadian province hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, revealed Tuesday that more than eight out of every 10 deaths there came at nursing homes. The staggering figure comes following a massive public outcry over the dire situation at the private Herron facility in a Montreal suburb, where 31 people died in just a few weeks after many of their caregivers fled the premises. The province has rushed thousands of doctors to care for the 4,000 nursing home patients who have contracted the virus. "Out of the 1,041 deaths we've seen up until now, 850 of them were at residences for the elderly," Quebec's premiere Francois Legault told reporters. "Many died after they were taken to hospital," he added, calling the situation in Quebec's elder care facilities "the great challenge" facing his government. The challenge is not affecting the entire industry. Legault said of the province's 2,600 nursing homes, only 300 had one or more COVID-19 cases. Sixty-nine people have died at the Sainte-Dorothee home in Laval outside Montreal since the start of the outbreak, according to the latest toll from public health officials. So far, Quebec has managed to fill half of 2,000 caregiver posts in the province left open due to the absence of personnel who have either been infected or are afraid of contracting the virus. Legault predicted the other posts would be filled by late Wednesday, saying that doctors, nurses and medical students had been answering the province's appeal for help. With more than 20,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 1,000 deaths, Quebec accounts for more than half of Canada's total 37,000 cases and 1,700 deaths. ast/sst/st
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