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Quebec has ordered inspections done in 40 private nursing homes across the province after confirming 31 seniors died at a single private seniors’ residence in the last month alone.

At least five of the deaths at the residence, Dorval’s Résidence Herron, were due to COVID-19, Premier François Legault announced on Saturday.

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A police investigation has also been launched after the province says the centre’s staff “abandoned” its 150 residents during the coronavirus pandemic and its owner refused to cooperate with authorities once the situation came to light.

When health network employees were sent to the centre on March 29, they found several residents in need of immediate assistance.

Some had been unfed and were lying in soiled beds or diapers.

“The way we treat our seniors in Quebec is not acceptable,” a solemn-looking Legault said Saturday after confirming the dire situation at the residence.