MONTREAL -- Quebec Premier François Legault says the 18-day "pause" his government is mandating, shutting non-essential services starting on Christmas Day, is necessary to bring down COVID-19 case numbers.

Now all that's left is to adjust, which means different things for different people.

Small retail shops need to plan around a sales schedule with no Boxing Day, while for other industries, those two and a half weeks will be a balancing act.

One sector that's staying open is manufacturing, but the province has asked companies to reduce their hours if they can.

It won't be quite that simple, said Veronique Proulx, president of Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters. It's predictable that some employees will need to stay home, which means probable overtime for others, she said.

"For others, if the company cannot slow down, there might be some concerns or some requests for employees to do some overtime," she said.

After all, elementary schools will now be closed the week of Jan. 4, which means many parents will need to stay home.

And what does that mean? More attempts at learning from home, for many.

"We’ve lost so much time, kids are so behind already that this doesn’t help," said Katherine Korakakis of the English Parents' Committee Association.

"The question remains, what’s going to happen, how are they ever going to catch up?"

Legault said he knows it's a sacrifice but it's one that he hopes will pay off.

"We have, all together, to make efforts to curb the contagion. So we need to ask them these efforts," he said.