Quebec is removing the requirement to show a vaccine passport in seniors’ homes in March and loosening other public health restrictions in long-term care homes later this month as the COVID-19 situation improves in the province.

Quebec Seniors' Minister Marguerite Blais announced at a press conference Wednesday that up to 10 caregivers or visitors will be allowed to visit a resident in private care homes as of Feb. 21 and allow up to 10 people at a table in dining rooms as long as there is distancing of at least one metre between them.

Residents will also be free to visit common areas with visitors with some conditions.

Those measures will be extended to public care homes, known as CHSLDs, one week later, on Feb. 28.

As of March 14, the vaccine passport will no longer be required to enter CHSLDs, private seniors’ homes and other intermediary resources. The minister also announced that by that date, the registry of visitors will no longer be required.

Blais said vaccination has allowed the province to lift some restrictions for seniors and for them to come back to more of a normal life. The measures that have been in place were there to protect vulnerable seniors throughout the five waves of the pandemic, she said.

“Recently, you know, the hospitals were full,” the minister said.

“Right now, it's time for people who are living in private residences, or in CHSLDs, or in the intermediary resource to be able to be more free, to have freedom.”

According to the Quebec Institute of Public Health (INSPQ), 95.8 per cent of residents in RPAs have two doses of the vaccine, while 94.1 per cent of residents in CHSLDs are double vaccinated.

Across Quebec, 97 per cent of people aged 80 and over have had two doses of the vaccine. 

ISOLATION MEASURES ALSO RELAXED

The province also announced new measures for residents in care homes who come in contact with a person infected with COVID-19.

If an unvaccinated resident is asymptomatic after being within two metres of a someone who had COVID-19 for 10 minutes or longer, he or she will now have to isolate themselves for 10 days. If the resident is vaccinated, the isolation period is five days, followed by five additional days of wearing a mask and respecting physical distancing. 

This is a developing story that will be updated.