“We saved a lot of lives, but when we confine people, especially young people, there are consequences,” he told reporters in Montreal. “They need to go to school, they need to socialize. Elderly people can have significant cognitive and physical losses.”

Arruda said health officials now know more about COVID-19, especially the role of asymptomatic transmission.

But he warned the province is at the cusp of a second wave and the population needs to follow health directives to reduce the number of cases and avoid overloading the health-care system.

“We can’t go back to the way it was before COVID,” he said, warning he’s seen some people grow lax about certain health measures such as hand-washing. “The virus is in Quebec, it’s here, it’s here to stay.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/7257160/quebec-coronavirus-covid-19-august-7/