Quebec to decide whether or not to lift curfew next week, Dube says
The Quebec government has said the province-wide curfew will be the “the first” public health measure to be lifted once the situation in hospitals improves, but it is still mulling over whether or not it will do so next week.
In an interview with 98.5 FM on Monday, the province’s health minister, Christian Dubé, said a decision on the controversial measure is on the horizon.
“We’re at Jan. 10, there is still one week to go,” he said. “We’ll re-evaluate what we are going to do for the 17th of January.”
Jan. 17 is the date when certain restrictions will be lifted in Quebec — primary, secondary and post-secondary educational institutions are scheduled to resume in-person classes after going online following the holiday break and non-essential stores will be allowed to operate again on Sundays.
The Legault government announced a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew one day before New Year’s Eve, catching many off guard just before the holiday. The province also shut down bars, gyms, and indoor dining in restaurants as part of a suite of new measures in response to skyrocketing hospitalizations during the pandemic’s fifth wave.
Dubé said the closure of non-essential stores, including grocery stores, on Sundays was meant to give workers a break since many businesses are facing a labour shortage.
He also hinted that more public health measures could be announced soon for the non-vaccinated population. Last week, the government announced the vaccine passport will be required to enter the SAQ and SQDC as of Jan. 18.
Soon after the announcement that the passport was needed to buy alcohol and cannabis in those stores, Dube said appointments for first doses of the vaccine jumped significantly.
“Like for the SAQ, like for the SQDC, yes, there will be other measures … for the unvaccinated,” Dubé said in the interview.
He added that the province will do this by making the vaccine passport mandatory in more locations.
His warning to those who haven't gotten their shots yet: “Get vaccinated or you can’t go out.”
In its daily COVID-19 update on Monday, Quebec reported a record of 2,554 total hospitalizations after 351 more people were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours. However, ICU numbers dropped for the first time since Christmas Day to start the week with nine fewer patients in intensive care wards than there were 24 hours ago for a total of 248.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.