More restrictions being lifted across Canada
Global research into COVID-19 vaccine still in early stages, Tam warns
Children played physically distanced games in a Quebec schoolyard and more Ontario shops began offering curbside pickup Monday as Canada’s top doctor warned a COVID-19 vaccine is still a ways off.
Quebec, which accounts for more than half of the country’s roughly 69,000 coronavirus cases, was the first province to start allowing kids back to classes.
Daycares and elementary schools outside the Montreal area were allowed to open with a maximum of 15 students per classroom. Schools in the hardhit city are to restart May 25 at the earliest.
At École St. Gerard in St-Jeansur-Richelieu,
southeast of Montreal, children were playing “walk the dog.” Hockey sticks with pictures of dogs attached were meant to show proper distancing.
The day began with kids posing for parents’ photos on coloured dots painted on the ground outside to mark how far apart they should be from classmates.
Marie Fortin watched as her twin seven-year-old daughters each received a spray of disinfectant from a staff member wearing a mask. She said she was reassured by the school’s preparations, which included sectioning off classrooms with tape and devising a hand-washing game.
“We don’t feel unsafe at all,” she said.
The province has said attendance is not mandatory. One bus pulled in with a lone student aboard.
Ontario began allowing nonessential retailers to offer curbside pickup after hardware and safety supply stores reopened on the weekend.
But Cat and Jason Van Wert, who own the Guild House gaming store in Toronto, said arranging for same-day delivery works better than standing out front with a table.
“A lot of the pickups have just been ad hoc,” Jason Van Wert said.
“With the delivery, people are happy to just pay the $5 and have it delivered to them rather than try and figure out the best time for them to come by.”
Newfoundland and Labrador was allowing some medical procedures to resume Monday, as well as golf, hunting and fishing. Low-risk businesses, including garden centres, and professional services such as law firms, could also reopen.
Alberta is planning to allow some retail stores in the coming days, while Saskatchewan and Manitoba began to gradually reopen last week.
British Columbia is to phase in resumption of certain health services, retail outlets, restaurants, salons and museums in mid-May.
A vaccine has been seen as a key condition for resuming life as it was before the pandemic, but Canada’s chief public health officer cautioned research is still in its early stages.
Dr. Theresa Tam said more than 100 different vaccine candidates are being looked at worldwide and some are in early clinical trials. She said Canada is monitoring all of them and considering how they could be rolled out domestically.
“But right now, you can’t actually say, ‘Here is the vaccine that is going to be the most successful.’ That’s still undergoing evolution globally.”