Quebec is taking a first step Monday toward lifting mandatory mask-wearing, starting with elementary and high school students across the province.
Students will no longer be required to wear a mask or face covering when seated in class as many return to school after their spring break.
However, the mask remains mandatory in the common areas of elementary and secondary schools, when traveling by students and on school buses.
Quebec’s acting national director of public health, Luc Boileau, said last week that as early as next month wearing a mask could become a matter of personal choice rather than an obligation.
Dr Boileau made the remarks the day after the Department of Health said the mask requirement could be lifted in most public places by mid-April at the latest.
However, the sequence of the gradual withdrawal of the mandatory wearing of masks does not concern workplaces and care settings including CHSLDs.
In the shorter term, starting next Saturday, March 12, the capacity in all public places in Quebec will be increased to 100%. In addition, there will be no capacity limit per table in restaurants, bars, taverns and casinos and these establishments will all be able to return to their normal operating hours.
Dance and karaoke activities will again be permitted as of next Saturday. No restriction on the number of participants for activities of a social nature will be imposed in a rented room.
The register of visitors to private seniors’ residences will be removed.
In addition, it will no longer be necessary to present the vaccination passport to access the places that were covered by this measure.
Quebec authorities feel encouraged by the steady decline in deaths and hospitalizations related to COVID-19. The province reported a drop of 20 hospitalizations on Sunday.