Return to class and end of curfew on Monday

(Quebec) The new national director of public health of Quebec, D^r Luc Boileau, made his first recommendation: he gives the green light to return to class on Monday, in primary and secondary education, which the Legault government ardently wished for. Quebec will also announce Thursday that the vaccine passport will now be required to enter big-box stores, whose main activity is not food, such as Walmart and Canadian Tire. The curfew will be lifted on Monday, while January 16 will be the last Sunday for compulsory closure of businesses.

Tommy chouinard
Press

Students must wear the mask at all times, including in class. However, it will be necessary to wait before being able to resume extracurricular activities.

Appointed on an interim basis, the D^r Boileau communicated his recommendation to the government on Wednesday.

At a press briefing the day before, Prime Minister François Legault reiterated that he was aiming for a return to school benches on January 17. He made it a “priority”, as continuing distance education was going to be detrimental to children’s mental health, according to him. He left until Thursday at D^r Boileau to give his opinion.

The government will hold a back-to-school press conference on Thursday. Prime Minister François Legault, however, published a message on social networks as early as Wednesday evening to welcome the recommendation of D^r Boileau. ” Good news ! The public health department is in favor of opening primary and secondary schools next Monday, as planned. CEGEPs and universities will also be able to return in person and we will give them some leeway to adjust. He wrote on Facebook.

“It’s very important for children to go back to school, to learn, to find their friends, to find a certain normalcy. The vast majority of children are not at significant health risk with COVID-19. On the other hand, school delays and isolation can cause significant problems. ”

He says he understands that “it can worry parents, teachers and school staff.” But “what is reassuring is that 98% of high school teens are vaccinated one dose and 89% two doses. Our elementary school children are nearly 60% vaccinated for the first dose and their immune response is very strong at this age.

Teachers, for their part, are massively vaccinated and they have priority access to the 3^e dose since the end of December, ”he pleads. He reminds that schools will have rapid tests at their disposal and stresses that “everyone will wear a mask at the beginning”. “We know we’re going to have to adjust in the first few days, but we’ve already been there. If everyone does their part, it will be fine and the children will regain their joy of living, ”he says.

A new COVID-19 case management protocol will be implemented. The D^r Boileau has in a way confirmed the protocol that his predecessor Horacio Arruda recommended last Monday, the day of his resignation. The isolation period for children under 12 who are symptomatic of COVID-19 has been reduced to five days. A negative self-test on day five of isolation should be required in order to return to class or daycare.

The end of the curfew

At his press conference on Thursday, François Legault will announce that the curfew is coming to an end and will be lifted on Monday. On December 30, when he announced the return of the curfew (from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.), he signaled that “the first easing that we’ll do when the situation gets back under control in hospitals, that’s fine. be to remove it, this extreme measure ”.

Also at the end of the year, François Legault announced the compulsory closure of shops on Sundays. January 16 will be the last day of application of this measure, he said on Thursday.

The government has been juggling for several days now with the idea of ​​expanding the imposition of the vaccination passport. It will now be required in big box stores whose main activity is not food, according to our information.

With the collaboration of Denis Lessard, Press