Quebec decrees New Year’s curfew as coronavirus spikes in Canada

The province Canadian Quebec on Thursday announced a nightly curfew ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations as COVID cases skyrocketed across the country.

“Starting tomorrow (Friday) there will be a curfew from 10:00 PM to 05:00 AM ″, announced the Prime Minister of Quebec, Francois Legault, in a press conference, adding that the measure is necessary to curb an increase in covid-19 that threatens to overtake hospitals. “It is an extreme measure for an extreme situation“, argument.

Legault reported a recent doubling of hospitalizations and absenteeism for healthcare workers due to illness.

Anyone who violates the curfew could face a fine of up to C $ 6,000 (US $ 4,700).

Private parties in Quebec They were also banned, and restaurants and other venues were ordered to close.

Also on Thursday, Ontario restricted concert and indoor sports venues to 50% capacity or 1,000 people, whichever is less, and authorized the fourth dose of the vaccine for nursing home seniors.

Meanwhile, British Columbia canceled all New Years festivities, allowing only restaurant meals “no mixing or dancing,” according to a statement.

Quebec It had previously imposed a January-May curfew to curb the spread of COVID-19, shortly after the discovery of the delta variant.

Canada It hasn’t mandated a curfew of this scale since the Spanish flu outbreak a century ago, according to historians.

Earlier this week, Quebec decided to allow health personnel who have covid-19 and is asymptomatic, continue working, for fear of the collapse of the health system.

Canada has reported a record number of cases of covid-19 in recent days, doubling compared to last week to more than 30,000 new infections on Thursday, derived from the variant omicron.

However, public health officials warned of a lack of data as the ability to test is overwhelmed.