Quebec announces aid for bars, restaurants

Bars and restaurants forced to close as part of Quebec’s partial lockdown will be eligible for up to $15,000 in loan forgiveness to help them cover certain fixed costs, the province’s Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said Thursday.

Those businesses will be able to get loans to pay for expenses including municipal taxes, mortgage interest, electricity and rent not covered by an existing federal program. Up to 80 per cent of the loan amount — to a maximum of $15,000 — will be forgivable, Fitzgibbon told reporters at a news conference in Quebec City.

There will be no new provincial support for workers, Fitzgibbon said, because the province doesn’t want to duplicate aid that is being provided by the federal government.

Quebec reported 933 new COVID-19 infections and 16 additional deaths Thursday as its two biggest cities — and some nearby areas — entered a partial lockdown. Health officials said two of the deaths occurred in the past 24 hours, 12 were between Sept. 24-29 and two were before Sept. 24.

Quebec continues to have by far the highest COVID-19 toll in Canada, with 75,221 cases and 5,850 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Premier Francois Legault said at an afternoon news conference that the numbers show how critical the situation is.

The new restrictions, which come after Montreal and Quebec City moved to the province’s highest COVID-19 alert level, also ban indoor and outdoor private gatherings.

But, Legault and public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda struggled to answer questions about what exactly constitutes an outdoor gathering — for example whether two children who are in the same class at school can play together at a park on the weekend and be supervised by their parents.

Quebecers — and police — will have to use their judgment, Legault said.

The figures released Thursday showed that 13 more people were hospitalized with COVID-19, for a total of 275, and 46 of them were in intensive case, an increase of three.