Quebec announced on Tuesday a deconfinement schedule which should lead to a “more normal life” and the end of the state of health emergency in March.
The five-date plan constitutes “a calculated risk” in the opinion of the Prime Minister, François Legault. “I think we are taking an important step,” he rejoiced, adding that we will now have to “live with the virus”.
As of Saturday, there will no longer be a legal limit for gatherings in private residences. The Public Health recommendation nevertheless remains set at ten people or guests from three different addresses. On the same day, the limit of guests will increase to ten per table in restaurants. People from three different addresses will be able to share a meal.
On February 14, sports matches will become authorized, and a maximum of 5,000 people will be able to attend outdoor shows. Quebec had already announced that adults would be able to resume organized sport on that date. Gyms and spas will also reopen that day.
A week later, on February 21, “all businesses will be able to reopen at 100% of their capacity,” said Mr. Legault. The limit of 500 spectators imposed on performance halls and amphitheaters will also be lifted, but these spaces must continue to operate at half capacity.
On February 28, sports competitions can resume. Teleworking will be recommended, but no longer mandatory. Places of worship and performance halls will also be able to open to their maximum capacity, except for the Bell Center and the Videotron Center. Bars and casinos will also be able to accommodate customers, at 50% capacity. Dancing and karaoke will remain prohibited until March 14.
A “more normal” life
In the middle of March, therefore, “most of the sanitary measures will be lifted” and “we will return to a more normal life”, underlined Mr. Legault.
The moment will be ideal for tabling a bill that would mark the end of the state of health emergency and “frame [le] need to have exceptional rules”. These rules allow the granting of bonuses to nurses and the use of masks or the vaccine passport, illustrated the Prime Minister. “It is not our objective to continue to maintain the health emergency indefinitely,” he assured.
Mr. Legault said he believes that the approach to COVID-19 must “change”. “There will be less and less confinement with vaccination. Quebeckers and citizens in general everywhere will have to [dans le monde] learn to live with the virus by minimizing their risks and agreeing to fetch doses as they are needed,” he added.
He, for his part, pledged to work to increase hospital capacity. “The big brake is finding nurses,” he recalled.
Alongside the Prime Minister, the acting national director of public health, Luc Boileau, warned the population that it was possible that the deconfinement plan would be slowed down in the event of a resurgence of COVID-19. “We could perhaps bring forward certain dates, perhaps move back some of them, also said Mr. Legault. But there, for the moment, the most probable scenario and which is quite solid, is that until March 14. »
Until then, Public Health does not intend to relax its recommendations on wearing a mask, including in schools. The vaccine passport is not about to disappear, also said the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé.
“Clearings” in the forecasts
Prime Minister Legault refused to associate the announcement of a deconfinement plan with recent public protests against health measures. “The demonstration as such did not weigh. What we wanted was to have some public health insurance and[du ministère]of Health that the risk was calculated, that the risk was minimal, ”explained Mr. Legault. “It would have been easy, in January, for the rest of us to say: ‘We’re letting go of all that loose’, but that wouldn’t have been responsible,” he also said later.
On January 27, the Dr Boileau described a fragile situation in the health network and added that he foresees a modest drop in hospitalizations in the weeks to come. From now on, “our calculations show that there is a real risk of having an increase [des hospitalisations], but that would not invite us to back down on the measures that are there, ”said the public health expert on Tuesday. “We have better sunny spells this week,” he also said.