On Thursday, January 7, Québec Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Security Geneviève Guilbault, specified the measures surrounding the provincewide curfew that is to take effect at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 9 and continue from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly until February 8.
All citizens will be prohibited from being outside their residence or its grounds, except in the case of justified exceptions.
Police will act with discernment and judgment, as they have since the start of the pandemic. They will continue to ensure compliance with sanitary measures and can intervene if a person is outside their home during non-permitted hours. Violators face fines of $ 1,000 to $ 6,000.
Employers can provide a certificate justifying the necessary travel for their employees. Organizations that have not already produced one can get an example here.
“We know that these measures are demanding and require additional effort. Ultimately, we do it to protect our health care system and to save lives. The battle is not yet won, and we must protect Quebecers above all. I would like to salute the work of the police officers who have been at the front for several months and who do a difficult job. They are allies in our fight against the virus and I sincerely thank them,” Guilbault said.
Here is a summary of the permitted exceptions to the curfew:
Persons who must report to their place of work
A person who must pick up the medication from a pharmacy that they need following a medical appointment
Persons who have to travel to or from a hospital, medical clinic, clinic, dentist or optometrist.
Any person who has to go to the bedside of a sick or injured relative
Students who must participate in a face-to-face evening course or in a laboratory in a recognized school
Any parent who must escort their children to the other parent who has custody of them
Persons returning from abroad due to work by a night flight and who must return to their residence
Any person who needs to fill up their vehicle with gasoline to get to work
Pet owners who need to allow their pets to “do their business.”
Any person who must accompany a person unable to drive to go to a medical appointment
Any parent who must accompany a sick child to the hospital
Parent who must drive their teenage children to work.
According to the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), there were 24,955 active cases of COVID-19 across Québec as of Wednesday, January 6. There were 220,518 cumulative cases and 186,996 resolved cases as of Wednesday, January 6.
Overall, there were 2,519 new cases of COVID-19 across Québec as of January 6.
There were 1,380 COVID-19 patients in hospital across Québec as of January 6, and 202 of those patients were in intensive care.
There had been 8,562 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 across Québec as of January 6.
Argenteuil situation
Active COVID-19 cases across the MRC d’Argenteuil increased from 17 to 24 as of January 7. There had been 358 cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Argenteuil as of Thursday. Across the entire Laurentides region of Québec, there were 1,059 active cases of COVID-19 as of January 7.
The number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Argenteuil remained at 12 as of Thursday.
As of Thursday, no cases of COVID-19 were listed at long-term care facilities or retirement residences across the MRC d`Argenteuil.
The CISSS des Laurentides will open a new COVID-19 testing clinic in Lachute on Tuesday, January 19 at 634 rue Lafleur. It will be open on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and on Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
