Premier of Quebec François Legault and his Minister of Economy Pierre Fitzgibbon present their plan to restart the Quebec economy.
The most recent assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province. As of today there have been 83 more deaths bringing the total to 1682 in Quebec. There are 25,757 confirmed cases of COVID-19. 1,625 people are in the hospital, including 217 who are in intensive care.
Legault announced that 3 important sectors for the economy will be reopening Construction sites, companies in the manufacturing sector and retail stores that have a door leading to the outside may gradually reopen in May, according to the plan presented by the Premier of Quebec François Legault and his Minister of the Economy Pierre Fitzgibbon.
The retailers with direct access to outside and located outside the Montreal metropolitan community (CMM) will be able to reopen their doors to the public on May 4th. Those of the CMM will have to wait until the following week, starting on May 11th.
Some Quebec businesses, including residential construction, gardening centres and real estate brokerages, were granted permission to restart their work earlier this month.
The shopping centers will therefore have to remain closed for the time being. The restaurant industry, as well as hairdressing salons, beauty salons and other personal care stores, are also on hiatus. The cultural sector, including venues, and the tourism sector will also have to wait.
Manufacturing companies will restart in two stages from May 11. A Maximum of 50 employees can work per working shift. For large companies not more than 50% of workers can work at the same time. EXAMPLE: a manufacturing site employing 60 workers during the same shift must operate with a maximum of 55% of employees; a manufacturing site employing 500 workers during a single shift must operate with a maximum of 275 employees.
As of Monday, May 25, 2020, manufacturing companies from all regions of Quebec will be authorized to resume their activities without any restriction as to the number of employees present to ensure their operations. 170,000 Quebecers will be able to return to work. All employees of manufacturing that can work from home will continue to work from home.
The entire construction industry will be able to resume operations on May 11th . 85,000 workers will return to work.
François Legault said factories are essential for the economy, but not holidays. That being said for now we can do without family celebrations for a while.
As is the case with reopening schools, businesses that reopen in May must continue to respect physical distancing guidelines, Legault said.
Should the reopenings contribute to increasing the spread of COVID-19 in Quebec, they will be reversed, the premier added.
The operation must be accompanied by sanitary and hygienic measures supervised by the Commission for standards, equity, health and safety at work (CNESST).