Quebec curfew restaurant closures press conference

@production_dependances | Instagram

News

Legault press conference tonight: Curfew and restaurant closures still on the table for Quebec

by Lorraine Carpenter

Single-family bubbles and the extension of school break till Jan. 17 are also being considered as pandemic numbers surge.

La Presse and Radio-Canada are reporting that Quebec Premier François Legault will address the province at 5 or 6 p.m. tonight and may announce a three-week curfew (9 or 10 p.m. till 5 a.m.), effective Dec. 31. The complete closure of all Quebec restaurants, aside from delivery and pickup, is also still on the table (though no start date has been mentioned by sources), as is the return to family bubbles (single households) and the extension of the school break for all levels until Jan. 17.

Contrary to the near-total lockdown measures imposed at the beginning of 2021, regardless of whether the above restrictions are implemented, non-essential businesses will be permitted to remain open with their current 50% capacity limits.

The Premier has reportedly been reluctant to return to last year’s unpopular restrictions, preferring to place a six-person limit on restaurant tables and household gatherings. The possibility of a curfew and restaurant closures has reportedly been discussed at every meeting between Legault and public health since Dec. 20. This past weekend, public health asked for more time to observe the pandemic situation before recommending more “radical” health and safety measures.

Quebec continues to break pandemic records daily, with yesterday’s case count being 13,149, and the increase in hospitalizations at 102.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Christian Dubé and Daniel Paré, in charge of the vaccine rollout in Quebec, announced a calendar for booster shots for the general population, which will reportedly have everyone covered by March, 2022.

For more on COVID-19 in Quebec, please click here.

For the latest in news, please visit the News section.

Posted in News

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following the closure of the alt weekly newspaper the Mirror, where she worked as a writer and editor for 12 years. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal and maintaining an independent voice in the Canadian media landscape.