Quebec reinstates curfew, closes dining rooms, bans private gatherings as cases soar
The new COVID restrictions take effect New Year's Eve. "The situation is extreme,” Premier François Legault said when explaining new rules.
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Quebec is reinstating a provincewide curfew, closing restaurant dining rooms and banning private gatherings as of 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Premier François Legault announced Thursday.
The decision comes as Quebec continues to grapple with surging COVID-19 cases fuelled by the Omicron variant and an increasingly fragile health-care network. Quebec reported more than 14,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and Legault said more than 16,000 will be reported Friday, with many going unreported given the recent introduction of at-home rapid tests.
“Our experts tell us there’s a risk we won’t be able to treat all those who need it in the coming weeks,” Legault said at a 5 p.m. news conference alongside Health Minister Christian Dubé and public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda. “The situation is very critical.”
In a “commitment” to Quebecers, Legault promised the curfew — which will be in place from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. — will be the first thing the province removes once pressure on the health network is alleviated. He added that while it’s difficult to evaluate the impact of such a measure, there are “indications” it helps slow COVID-19 transmission and that at this point, Quebec has to use all measures available.
“Obviously (implementing a curfew) is a move that is extreme, because the situation is extreme,” he said. “The majority of Quebecers respect the guidelines and that should be sufficient, however, we know there’s a minority who don’t respect the rules.”
Those who violate the curfew will be subject to fines ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.
The province also announced non-essential stores will be closed for the next three Sundays, and that the return to class will be delayed until Jan. 17 for all students (online schooling will take place according to school schedules). School daycare services will continue for parents in need, with priority given to essential service workers.
Places of worship will also need to close other than for funerals with a maximum of 25 people, and indoor sports will no longer be permitted other than for a single person, two people or the occupants of a single household.
Private gatherings will only be permitted for a single person living alone (or with children) who can bubble up with another household, or visitors who are providing care. Outdoor events will be capped at 250 people.
Quebec also announced plans to widen the use of vaccine passports, such as in stores.
“This isn’t the kind of end-of-year I would have hoped for,” Legault said. “But we all have a duty to do everything so that everyone can be cared for in Quebec, so that we save as many lives as possible.”
In addition to recording 14,188 cases on Thursday, which is the largest single-day number since the beginning of the pandemic, hospitalizations in the province jumped by 135, bringing the total to 939. Of those patients, 138 are in intensive care.
In the span of a week, Quebec’s COVID-19 hospitalizations doubled and the number of employees absent from work more than doubled, Legault said. There are currently 12,500 health-care employees absent from work, which is why the province recently announced it may bring staff who’ve come into contact with or contracted COVID-19 out of isolation.
“But we’ll only do it in the areas where it’s absolutely necessary,” Legault said.
As of Thursday, Quebec said its hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients stood at 1,252 for those who don’t require intensive care, and 319 for those who do.
Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) projections released on Thursday suggest Quebec could see anywhere between 1,600 and 2,100 hospitalizations within the next three weeks, and the number of people requiring intensive care could climb to between 300 and 375.
“This (data) is really what permits us to clearly see and clearly read the situation,” Legault said Thursday.
In its report, the INESSS said the rise in hospitalizations could be slowed by added vaccination efforts or by “the impact of recently implemented or upcoming health measures.”
Legault said there’s no precise answer from experts on how measures added Thursday will affect hospitalizations, but that he’s confident they will permit the province to get through this wave of the pandemic.
“But it’s not an exact science, unfortunately,” he said.
Earlier this week, the province outlined a vaccination schedule for booster doses for the general population, beginning on Jan. 4. Arruda said on Thursday people who have received two doses of an mRNA vaccine and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 probably won’t need a third shot.
“That’s the recommendation currently, what’s important also is whether you had symptoms — a positive test would be considered more valid,” he said.
The province is currently evaluating how to validate people who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 using at-home rapid tests.
“There will be a website that we will make available where people can register the fact that they’ve taken a test, and we’ll see if we can make a match,” Dubé said. “But since it’s voluntary information, we’re trying to see how we can make the pairing with other information we have in our systems.”
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