“We don’t want a repeat of the holidays”

It was with the caution that there are still “significant risks” Quebec Premier François Legault announced changes to the provinces public restrictions for the coming weeks on Tuesday evening.
“The pandemic is not over,” he said, while also announcing that as of Friday, Feb. 26, movie theatres across the province will be able to reopen and indoor sports will be able to restart in a limited way.
Although Legault emphasized ongoing uncertainty based on the situation in hospitals, the growing risk of variants, and concerns that people will engage in illegal gatherings during the upcoming March Break, he also sympathized with the situation of parents who will have their children out of school for a week during a time when there are very limited options in terms of things to do outside of the home.
“We don’t want a repeat of the holidays,” the premier said, recalling the fact that daily infections soared through December and January due, in part, to gatherings within private homes. To that end he repeated his warning that people in different family bubbles should not be renting cabins together, and he warned that police presence will be higher in near tourist destinations.
Legault also announced that the Outaouais region will be downgraded to orange alert status as of next Monday, calling the situation there “stable.”
The province of Quebec reported 669 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of people infected to 278,187 with 9,399 active cases. The province recorded 20 new deaths, but the total of deaths increased by only 17 due to the withdrawal of three deaths not attributable to COVID-19. The number of hospitalizations in Quebec decreased by 33 to 771, and the number of people in intensive care decreased by two to 134.
In the Eastern Townships 34 new cases were reported and there were 379 active cases across the region. No new deaths were recorded and hospitalizations decreased to 19, with the number of people in intensive care dropping by one to a total of two.

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