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QUEBEC — With a sudden upswing in positive COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, Premier François Legault has announced nearly all stores — including grocery stores — will close on Sundays for the month of April to give workers under intense pressure a break.

Pharmacies, gas stations, dépanneurs and restaurant take-out services will remain open Sundays.

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The new measure came as Legault used his daily media briefing on Monday to announce that three more Quebecers have died, for a total of 25. That is the highest number of deaths in Canada.

If there was hope Sunday that the number of new cases might be levelling off, they were dashed Monday, with Legault saying Quebec has 590 new confirmed cases, for a total of 3,430.

It is the biggest single-day increase — 21 per cent — since the crisis began 20 days ago. The next-highest increase was 477 on March 28. On Sunday, the daily rate of increase had slipped to 14 per cent.