Quebec will allow groups of 50 to gather
Starting next week, Quebecers will be allowed to come together at gatherings of up to 50 people in cinemas, theatres and classrooms, and sit 1.5 metres apart, as long as they’re quiet about it.
At the same time, the required social distance for children 16 and under will drop to one metre, allowing youth in classrooms, day cares and day camps more closeness, and hinting at a return to partial normality for the fall semester.
The new measures announced Monday by public health director Horacio Arruda are part of a gradual lessening of restrictions as COVID-19 rates drop in Quebec. The province reported 102 new cases Monday, and 11 deaths in the past 24 hours, roughly 10 per cent of the figures it was reporting daily when the pandemic was at its peak.
Officials are taking their cues partly from the experience of countries, particularly in Europe, whose falling infection rates have allowed similar deconfinement measures.
At his own pandemic news conference later in the day, Premier François Legault hinted more confinement restrictions will be ending this week.
“I know people will ask how is it coherent to open some groups of 50 and not other groups of 50,” Legault said. “The idea of public health is to go gradually. I don’t want to create false hopes. But I have the impression, and it is a personal impression, that public health should be able to deconfine pretty well everything soon.
The move to reopen is understandable, but the plethora of regulations is overly confusing, said Dr. Caroline Quach, who is in charge of the infection control unit at Ste-justine Hospital and professor of epidemiology at Université de Montréal.
“I think it’s becoming more and more complicated to make any sense of what is needed,” she said. “I think either we go with everyone at one metre, or everyone at two metres, but to have some groups at one, some at two, some at 1.5, is becoming harder and harder to follow.”
Under the regulations beginning June 22, indoor gatherings of up to 50 people with distancing of 1.5 metres will be allowed in public venues like cinemas, CEGEPS and university classes, in places where people are sitting and not moving around, or talking, singing or cheering.
Individuals will not have to wear masks while attending events or classes, but will be expected to maintain social distancing of two metres while in line or exiting or in hallways, and are encouraged to wear masks then. Washrooms will be available, but will have to be cleaned more often than usual. Members of the same households can sit next to each other. If things go well, indoor crowds of up to 250 people could be allowed by mid-july.
Artists performing on stage will have to remain two metres apart.
Religious institutions will be able to reopen, but with special regulations regarding singing. Bars will remain closed, because it is a place where people converse and alcohol chases away inhibitions, increasing the risk of spreading droplets, Arruda said.
At private homes or establishments, indoor and outdoor gatherings are still restricted to a maximum of 10 people from three different households, spaced two metres apart.
Social distancing for children age 16 or less will be reduced to one metre in places like schoolrooms and day camps, based in part on studies showing children are less apt to spread the coronavirus.
Children will still be expected to stay at least two metres from their adult caregivers or teachers. The government is suggesting children be organized in small groups of four to six because it will allow easier contact tracing if an outbreak occurs.
Quach questioned allowing 16-year-olds to have greater proximity, since they’re often as large as adults and more likely to be disease vectors. She also questioned the decision not to make masks mandatory.
“I am one of those who think masking indoors will save us a lot of trouble in the long run,” she said.
Education Minister François Roberge is expected to make an announcement Tuesday about plans for return to classes.
Arruda says the province’s experience with reopening elementary schools has shown very few outbreaks and no serious sickness among children. But he cautioned against complacency.
“We are on parole, and there are conditions on our limited release,” he said. “I ask people to not think the virus is completely gone, because it is still there.”