A class-action lawsuit against the Quebec government has been given the go-ahead by a judge on behalf of residents of public long-term care homes that experienced significant COVID-19 outbreaks during the first year of the pandemic. The lawsuit in Superior Court alleges that the province’s response to the first two waves of COVID-19 was impromptu and that a pre-existing pandemic plan was ignored until it was too late. It seeks to obtain at least $100,000 in compensation for each member who was infected, $40,000 for class members who didn’t contract the virus, and additional compensation for their families. The members of the class action are those living in public long-term care centres that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak infecting a minimum of 25 percent of residents between March 13, 2020, and March 20, 2021. The suit also intends to obtain an additional $10 million in punitive damages, and it claims that government decisions, including the transfer of hospital patients into long-term care centres, led to more deaths. More than 5,000 people died in Quebec’s long-term care centres during the stipulated period.