Québec Now in Tighter Lockdown with Curfew from 8 PM to 5 AM

Québec – COVID-19 Update – The province of Québec is now under the expanded lockdown including a curfew from 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM daily.

The curfew is an effort, one the Premier says is a hard one. “Our battle ends and as in a long marathon, the last few kilometres are the hardest. I beg you to make this last effort.”

The Premier reached out to Québecers via social media on Saturday.

“Curfew comes into effect today. This is a difficult decision I made to curb the spread of the virus.

The main reason for curfew is to prevent gatherings, even the minimal ones. It’s the addition of all the small sprains to the rules that feeds the virus. Anyone can catch it and pass it on to a loved one.

Even if we have no symptoms, we can spread the virus.

As prime minister, my first duty is to protect Quebecers.

I consider the situation to be critical and need shock treatment.

Our hospitals are filling up with COVID-19. patients.

Hundreds of people are in ICU fighting for their lives.

Dozens of people die every day.

We are forced to delay treatments for other serious diseases like cancer.

The more COVID-19 patients, the more important examinations, treatments and operations are postponed.

We are approaching a tipping point where we can only cure the most urgent cases.

It can affect everyone, our loved ones as ourselves.

At the moment, we are vaccinating more and more people everyday.

We’ll protect our most vulnerable people and our health workers first.

But it’s going to take several more weeks for all those who want vaccinations to be. We don’t have that time to curb contagion.

This is the moment our hospitals are overflowing. Now is the time to curb the progress of the virus. We all need each other.

We need a collective effort everyone for a month.

In particular, protection should be given to those 65 years of age and older who are more vulnerable.

Our battle ends and as in a long marathon, the last few kilometers are the hardest.

I beg you to make this last effort.”

There were tickets handed out in the province on Saturday night as there were groups in Montreal and Quebec City protesting the curfew.

The Province has issued the following list of exceptions to the curfew:

• People going to and coming from work, or a work-related activity.
• Parents picking up teenagers from work.
• People going to or coming from an education activity at a recognized school such as a night class or lab.
• People who work in the transportation of goods sector.
• People who are providing necessary health services to someone else, or attending the bedside of a sick family member.
• Driving someone to a medical appointment, either a child or someone who can’t drive themselves.
• People who require immediate medical attention, or have an appointment with a dentist or optometrist.
• People who are dropping kids off to comply with a custody agreement or parental visitation.
• People who are coming from or going to train stations or airports for travel.
• People who are shopping for essential items that cannot be deferred (ex. pharmacies).
• People who are walking their dog within one kilometre of their home.

People are basically being restricted under the curfew to inside their homes, or in their yards for the most part during the restricted hours.

Latest COVID-19 Updates in Québec

The most recent data on the evolution of COVID-19 in Québec show 3,127 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 226,233, of which 192,979 have now recovered. The data also report 41 new deaths, for a total of 8,647. Among these 41 deaths, 12 have occurred in the last 24 hours, 24 have occurred between January 2 and January 7 and 5 have occurred before January 2. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 11 compared to the previous day, for a cumulative total of 1,392. Among these, the number of people in intensive care decreased by 1, for a total of 206. The samples conducted on January 7 amount to 38,700 for a total of 5,160,611. Finally, 13,101 doses of vaccine were administered yesterday, for a total of 75,123.

Summary Data Evolution Table¹