MONTREAL -- Despite several regions of the province being in the red zone, Halloween can take place in Quebec.
Premier Francois Legault made the announcement during a news conference on Thursday -- where he specified that the holiday can happen for children only.
"In 2020, there is no Halloween for adults – it’s just for children," he said.
Children will be allowed to go from door to door in costume, but only with people who live in the same household -- and those handing out candy will need to maintain two metres of distance from those who come to collect it.
"There will be prerequisites, there will be guidelines to follow… but it’s very important for them to celebrate Halloween," Legault said.
He suggested for people to put candy in baskets outside, separated in bags -- and to instruct children to take one without touching any others -- or to be as creative as they'd like with how they choose to deliver treats.
The premier said he knows some people might disagree with the province's decision to allow the holiday to take place.
"If you don’t have kids, I can tell you this is very important for their quality of life," he said.
28 DAYS OF COVID-19 MEASURES
Legault also said it's very likely the red-zone measures in the province will extend past Oct. 28, despite the fact that the province has managed to stabilize its daily number of COVID-19 cases.
"Today is October 15 and what we see is great news – we didn’t reach 2,000 cases on a daily basis – we have reached a plateau," he said.
He also pointed out that October's "lockdown" is vastly different from the one during the spring.
"What we did has nothing to do with what we would have done in March or April," he said. "These are strong measures, harsh measures, but it has nothing to do with a lockdown."
Legault said the province's three main priorities are: to save lives, to keep the health network stable enough for surgeries and treatments to continue to take place, and to keep children in school.
"So, we don’t know what will happen in the next two weeks, but I’ll be honest with Quebecers," Legault said as he admitted some measures may need to stay in place.
A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS?
As far as Christmas is concerned, Legault said a lot remains up in the air but Quebecers can definitely forget about large gatherings.
He said gatherings between six and 10 people may be possible, but it depends on how the situation evolves in the province.
"It wouldn’t be great for Quebecers if you couldn’t see your friends and family members at Christmastime... How will we deal with the situation? It’s too soon to say," he said.
Listen to Legault's Halloween announcement here:
This is a developing story and will be updated.
