“We are in a race against time,” Prime Minister Francois Legault said, adding that Quebec is losing the race so far.
A curfew will take effect on Saturday from 8pm to 5am. Restaurants, gyms, theaters and most retail stores will be closed for at least four weeks. Legault calls it “shock therapy” that he hopes won’t need to be expanded.
Elementary schools will reopen as planned next week, but more students will need to wear masks. The institutes will reopen on January 18th.
All Quebeckers are asked to stay home and travel only if absolutely necessary. Those who fail to comply could receive fines of thousands of dollars.
“We’re talking here about saving lives and we’re talking about saving our health care system,” Legault said.
For weeks, many health professionals have been pushing the Quebec government to shut down even more, having warned that its hospital system was shrinking.
“None of us wants another hard block, but we’re really in a very precarious situation,” said Dr. Marina Klein, director of research and infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Center, in an interview with CNN.
For months, Quebec has experienced a steady increase in new cases, hospitalizations and coronavirus deaths.
Quebec health ministry data show that approximately 1,400 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19, just after the province of Ontario, with 76 new hospitalizations reported on Tuesday alone.
A Quebec health advisory group warned in December that Quebec could run out of hospital capacity by the end of January if hospitalizations continue to rise.
Klein says the partial restrictions that have been set in Quebec since the fall have been ineffective against the spread of the virus.
“It’s like a slow torture we’ve been subjected to, unlike the alternative solution, to do something very hard, very difficult over a short period of time that is probably much more effective,” Klein says. He said health workers are exhausted and morale is low as many have been exposed to the virus or are already infected.
Canada has been facing a stubborn second wave of the virus, which is getting worse every day, according to public health officials.
“Covid-19 is spreading among people of all ages, with high infection rates in all age groups. However, nationally, infection rates remain the highest among those 80 years and older at higher risk for serious outcomes, “Dr. Theresa warned. Tam, Canada’s top public health official, said in a statement Wednesday.
“The subsequent impacts of weeks and months of high disease activity continue to be seen in a growing number of serious illnesses and deaths …”
Ontario, home to two out of five Canadians, is also facing an increase in hospitalizations despite imposing its own closure across the province on December 26th. The Ontario government says it is watching Quebec closely and considering tougher measures.
“I always say everything is on the table, but let’s see where the numbers go,” Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said during a news conference Tuesday.
Legault says companies and schools are not a major source of outreach. Instead, private and private gatherings in homes have provoked the crisis. He said a circuit breaker type lock was now needed.
“My concern at the moment is that we are facing a possible introduction of an even more transmissible strain, which is what is being seen right now in the UK and whether this would take place in an epidemic already out of control. that we have, we are talking about a situation that we have never seen, ”said Dr. Klein.