Last night Health Minister Christian Dubé reported that he expected Montreal’s alert status to change to red later this week. With the COVID-19 situation in Quebec not getting any better, it was only a matter of time before the Quebec government actually made the change.
As the province announced 698 new coronavirus cases on Saturday and 896 new cases on Sunday, Premier François Legault announced late this afternoon that Greater Montreal, most of Quebec City, and the entire Chaudière-Appalaches region will be in red zones as of midnight Wednesday (the highest alert level).
The red-alert level will continue for 28 days.
“We have to make difficult decisions,” Legault said. “If nothing is done, the province faces a big increase in hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks,” he added.
Premier François Legault outlined what red alert will mean:
Private Gatherings:
Visits to the homes of other people are banned in red zones, though this rule does not apply to people living alone who are allowed to receive one visitor who they are not related to. That also means that if you hired someone to do work in your home, only one contractor is allowed to enter at a time.
Restaurants, Diners, Brasseries, Taverns, and Casinos:
Restaurants in red zones must close their dining rooms and remain open only for delivery and pick-up orders.
Bars and Nightclubs:
All bars and clubs in red zones must close.
Other Businesses:
Most businesses are allowed to stay open so long as they respect the health rules. This includes retail stores, hotels, hairdressers, barbers and so on.
Inter-Regional Travel:
Inter-regional travel is not banned but citizens are encouraged to avoid this as much as possible.
Protests:
Masks will be mandatory in protests and in other outdoor situations where remaining two metres apart is not possible.
Public Venues:
Public venues such as cinemas, libraries and museums must close for 28 days.
CHSLDs and Senior Homes
People who reside at CHSLDs or similar residences can be visited by one caregiver at a time and a maximum of two per day.
Outdoor Activities:
Social distancing of fewer than two metres is not allowed which will make many activities such as outdoor sports impossible to do.
Public Gatherings:
Public gatherings are not allowed except for funerals and in churches or other places of worship where a maximum of 25 people is allowed to gather.
Community organizations:
Community organizations are allowed to stay open.
Schools:
Legault said no changes are being made in regard to how schools operate:
“Our objective is to protect the schools. This is important. Maybe one per cent of students have seen their class be closed. There is unfortunately an increase each day, but almost the majority of children, 99 per cent of children, can continue to go to their classes and it has to stay like that,” Legault said.
