Quebec has announced that as of Monday, students at Quebec schools will be allowed to participate in sports and arts activities outside of their classroom bubbles.
Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge told reporters earlier in the summer that the province would be able to go forth with this step if the COVID-19 situation in Quebec didn’t get out of control.
The government believes the situation in schools is stable enough to loosen restrictions that had sparked a backlash among many groups.
Roberge made the announcement at a press conference on Friday morning, warning that this only applies to schools in regions labelled green and yellow on Quebec's new regional alert system.
Should a region move to the orange alert level, schools in those areas would have to revert back to closed-group activities.
“It’s so important for youth to have activities,” Roberge told reporters. “This system minimizes the risk of COVID-19 — but there is no zero risk in a pandemic.”
"Let's work together to stay in yellow or green zones," Roberge added. "No, we don't want any red zones."
As of Friday, most regions across the province are labelled green. However, the Quebec City, Eastern Townships, Outaouais, and Laval regions are labelled yellow.
