Stay patient, Dubé advises, as earlier curfew met with protest
The province is in a sprint to the finish to administer the first dose of COVID -19 vaccines, so Quebecers should continue to obey the curfew and other rules until then, Health Minister Christian Dubé told a television audience on Sunday evening as an earlier curfew went into effect in Montreal and Laval.
Dubé told Tout le monde en parle, a Radio-canada talk show, he was aware of a protest planned in Old Montreal for 8 p.m., the time the curfew now goes into effect in the two cities. He urged the public to continue respecting the government's regulations while it works to meet its goal of offering at least the first dose of vaccine to every Quebecer who wants it by June 24.
“I understand that people are tired,” he said. “What I'm telling people is there are 75 days left. Look at this as a final effort . ... We can see the finish line of June 24.”
The Montreal protest drew hundreds of people, who blocked de la Commune St. at the bottom of Place Jacques-cartier at 8 p.m. Garbage cans were set on fire. The crowd began to disperse with the arrival of police.
Last week, Premier François Legault announced a tightening of public health measures, including moving the curfew from 9:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Laval and Montreal, as case numbers began climbing again.
The government still expects to fulfill its vaccine promise by June 24, Dubé said. He noted that about 50,000 people a day are being vaccinated.
Dubé also acknowledged the government made compromises with its regulations and what to open and close.
“With hindsight we can always say could we have done it differently,” he said. But the government has tried to strike a balance between physical health and mental health, he said, particularly during this third wave of the pandemic.
“We had to make compromises sometimes,” he said. Still, he said, Quebec appears to have come out of it ahead of Ontario, where the daily count has exceeded 4,000 new cases.