An additional step has been taken in lifting health measures in Quebec: wearing a mask is officially no longer compulsory in public transport since Saturday, in all regions.
Posted at 7:25 a.m.
Updated at 9:15 a.m.
In total, face coverings will have been compulsory in the metro and on buses for nearly two years; it had been made mandatory in all indoor public spaces in July 2020, on the cusp of the second wave of COVID-19 that authorities were anticipating at the time.
The end of the mandatory mask in public transport will be “an important step”, argued the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, announcing his intentions in early June. His decision was made on the basis of a recommendation from Public Health, which was then observing a downward trend in new cases of COVID-19. However, these seem to have started to rise again in recent days.
Wearing a mask on public transport will remain a possible “choice”, insisted Mr. Dubé and the national director of public health, Dr.r Luc Boileau. They ask the public to respect those who are “uncomfortable” with the lifting of this restriction, and who will continue to have a face covering.
Still some measures
All Quebecers will however have to continue to wear the mask in several public places in Quebec, for example hospitals, CHSLDs, CLSCs or clinics. “I think it will be there for a long time yet,” Minister Dubé had also indicated, recalling that hospitals are the places where “we have the most danger”.
People with COVID-19 are also required to wear a mask during any social interaction for 10 days, as are people who live in the same home as an infected person.
By mid-May, Quebec had become the latest province to remove the requirement to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces. In the school network and early childhood centers, students and staff no longer have to wear the mask since May 16. Since its appearance in Quebec, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 15,528 people.
If the transmission indicators of COVID-19 stabilize or decrease across the country, an upsurge is “possible” during the summer with the arrival of the new BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the Omicron family. , warned the federal public health on Friday. “We are starting to see a percentage increase in the BA.4 and BA.5 variants. It’s something to watch,” said Canada’s Deputy Public Health Officer, D.r Howard Njoo, without specifying the regions currently experiencing increased COVID-19 activity in the country.
With The Canadian Press