Quebec curfew
Quebec to be under curfew for 4 weeks to curb COVID-19 case count
Quebec/IBNS: In an attempt to lower its alarming increase of COVID-19 case count, Quebec would be placed under curfew, the first of its kind in Canada since the declaration of the coronavirus pandemic, for four weeks effective tomorrow from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. during which time residents in much of Quebec will be prohibited from going outside at night, Quebec health officials said.
Premier François Legault said the stricter measures, which he described as "shock therapy," will begin Saturday.
"The upcoming month is going to be a critical one," Legault said at a news conference Wednesday. "We are in a race against time."
"Unfortunately we have lost this race in the last few weeks. But we can win it. We have seen our hospitals get overloaded," Legault said.
The government has no choice but to tighten restrictions, regardless of the high social and economic costs, André-Pierre Contandriopoulos, a professor emeritus at Université de Montréal's school of public health said on Jan 7, CBC News reported,
A curfew may not directly lead to a reduced number of infections, but it will hopefully get the attention of those who did not follow physical distancing rules, said Dr. Joanne Liu, a pediatric physician in Montreal who also serves on the International Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
Many of the patients treated by Dr. François Marquis, the head of intensive care at Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, said they got infected at small gatherings, such as quick family reunions or small dinner parties and added, "It's all about small little meetings that we have to stop right now," he said. "The biggest problem is we're going to run out of beds."
For Dr. Karl Weiss, an infectious diseases specialist at the Jewish General Hospital of Montreal, the curfew can be viewed as one more tool to slow the spread of the virus. "I think we are at the stage where it may be the last shot to play, the last effort to make, hoping it works," he told Radio-Canada's Tout un matin, CBC News reported.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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