Private gatherings of 20 people to be allowed in Quebec as of Dec. 23

UPDATED DEC. 7 3:05 p.m. In a press conference this afternoon, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé and public health director Horacio Arruda announced that private gatherings of up to 20 vaccinated people will be allowed in the province as of Dec. 23 — just in time for Christmas. Currently, a maximum of 10 people are allowed to gather in a private setting.

Last week Premier François Legault was criticized for saying he wishes that gatherings of 25 would be permitted by Christmas. He also stated that there would be no further restrictions implemented before the holidays.

This announcement arrives following the emergence of the Omicron variant in Quebec on Nov. 29 (which has not led to community in the province yet) and amid significantly higher daily case counts of new pandemic infections (1,234 today) than Quebec was seeing a month ago.

Bonne nouvelle! À compter du 23 décembre, les rassemblements privés pourront aller jusqu’à 20 personnes vaccinées.

Il faut toutefois continuer de limiter nos contacts si on veut continuer de contrôler le virus. On doit rester responsables comme depuis le début de la pandémie. pic.twitter.com/h1Wra7i08i

— François Legault (@francoislegault) December 7, 2021

For more on the COVID-19 situation in Quebec, please visit the government’s website.

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