A traveler walks past a “Mandatory COVID-19 Testing” sign at Pearson International Airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 18, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
December 20, 2021
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s second most populous province of Quebec ordered bars, gyms and casinos shut on Monday and directed people to work only from home to fight the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Health minister Christian Dube said the province had a record 4,500 new cases of the coronavirus a day and predicted worse was yet to come.
He urged Quebecers to cut down their personal contacts with the approach of Christmas and New Year’s Day. The new measures were due to take effect at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Monday.
“The situation is critical … right now we are waging a war against the virus,” Dube told a virtual briefing, saying the healthcare system was fragile.
“We will have new projections from our specialists this evening and let’s be honest, they probably won’t be encouraging,” he said. “I know this is hard on morale but now is not the time to become discouraged.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said a spike in cases of the Omicron variant was “scary,” while the country’s top medical official suggested the healthcare system could soon be swamped.
Dube said most schools would shut down immediately until Jan. 10 while restaurants would open only from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and all sporting events would be played without spectators.
The province plans to start distributing four million rapid tests in coming days while working to increase the number of booster shots, he said.
Separately, federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said a detachment of troops would be deployed to the remote northeastern Quebec municipality of Bonne-Esperance to help deal with COVID-19 outbreaks.
Quebec accounts for just under a quarter of Canada’s 38 million population.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Grant McCool and Howard Goller)
Source: One America News Network
