Yesterday marked the first time that the province's case count had surpassed 42k, with a total of 42,183 cases having been announced. Today, on Sunday, May 17, there are now 42,920 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Quebec. And, the province's death toll has reached 3,562. Right now, there remain 1,766 people hospitalized due to the novel coronavirus in Quebec. On a lighter note, since the pandemic first reached Quebec, there have been 11,754 individuals in the province who have recovered from COVID-19. With Montreal remaining the region with the highest number of cases in Quebec, the date for the reopening of certain retail stores has been pushed back twice. The expected date is now May 25. MTL Blog interviewed officials from the City of Montreal to discuss what locals can anticipate when busy commercial streets, such as Sainte-Catherine, start to gradually reopen shops once the government gives the okay. Montrealers should be expecting things to look a little different if they go shopping this summer, and the City advises that we continue to shop online as much as possible. You can read the full interview here. The most recent update of every Quebec region's COVID-19 case count is available below. Institut national de santé publique This graph clearly shows that Montreal, with its 21,715 confirmed cases of COVID-19, remains the epicentre for the virus in Quebec — as it has been for the past two months. In Santé Québec's daily update, we learn that the province has now seen a total of 290,192 tests for COVID-19 come back negative. #COVID19 - Au Québec, en date du 17 mai 2020 à 13 h 15, la situation est la suivante :12 441 prélèvements effectués le 15 mai12 054 analyses réalisées le 15 mai290 192 cas négatifs42 920 cas confirmés Pour en savoir plus sur la situation au Québec : https://t.co/fiqW5E4y8R— Santé Québec (@sante_qc) May 17, 2020 On Friday, May 15, there were a total of 12,054 analyses performed. The provincial government has promised during the past week that the amount of testing will go up in Quebec, which is why the number of tests has started to be included in updates. View this post on Instagram Il va tous falloir s’habituer à porter le masque en public. Ça peut être un masque artisanal fait à la main, idéalement au Québec. Le rôle du masque, c’est de protéger les autres. Si on parle ou on tousse, le masque permet de ne pas infecter les autres. C’est donc une question de respect pour notre entourage, pour nos amis, nos voisins, nos parents. Je recommande à tous les Québécois de porter un masque quand on sort de chez soi. Mais je rappelle les deux consignes les plus importantes : on garde nos distances et on se lave les mains régulièrement. A post shared by François Legault (@francoislegault.pm) on May 12, 2020 at 3:09pm PDT Premier Legault has recently asked that all Quebecers start getting into the habit of wearing a protective face mask when out in public. In order to practice what he preaches, Legault has started wearing one to every press conference. Stay tuned for more news.