The Quebec government is considering temporarily closing schools and extending the holiday break by two weeks, as cases continue to climb across the province.
Premier Francois Legault made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday saying, no decision has yet been made.
“It’s our last solution,” Legault said. “Children have already lost many days of school last spring, but we have to consider all of the options we have to break the wave.”
Legault said the situation in schools is “deteriorating,” reminding Quebecers that more than 300 classes were forced to close because of COVID-19 outbreaks in the last two days alone.
Since the start of the school year, 9,775 students and staff at both public and private institutions have tested positive for the disease.
Legault made the comments as Quebec has recorded 1,365 new cases of COVID-19 earlier today, making it the second consecutive day the province is reporting more than 1,300 new cases.
The highest increases were found in Montreal with 325 new confirmed cases (45,612 total), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean with 197 new (2,608 total), Monteregie with 172 new (17,338 total), and Lanaudiere with 138 new (9.078)
The Eastern Townships region is the latest to enter the red zone with 73 new cases Thursday, a total of 3,359, and four more deaths (51 total).
Meanwhile, Laval is now the third region with over 10,000 confirmed cases, as the island now has reported 10,057 total cases.
Forty-two deaths were reported across the province, including nine over the past 24 hours.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the province has now reached 119,894 along with 6,557 deaths.
According to Sante Québec, over 95,000 people in the province have recovered from the disease.
