Quebec headed for full lockdown, curfews beginning Saturday: report

 “My reaction is relief that they’re finally doing what needs to be done, but with incredible frustration that it’s so late,” one public health expert said of the impending lockdown announcement.

Premier François Legault had been expected to make the announcement on Tuesday, but it was delayed 24 hours in order to meet with representatives of the affected sectors. PHOTO BY PAUL CHIASSON /The Canadian Press files

As health experts warn that the pandemic is out of control in Quebec and hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to mount, Premier François Legault is expected to announce a provincewide lockdown Wednesday.

Quoting sources within the government, La Presse reported the upcoming announcement Tuesday. The lockdown is expected to last three to four weeks and extend to schools, offices, construction work and all other businesses deemed non-essential.

According to the report, provincial health officials also want to impose a curfew that would begin at 8 or 9 p.m. and continue until morning.

While they questioned why the province didn’t act sooner, public health experts who spoke to the Montreal Gazette Tuesday welcomed the new measures.

Dr. Donald Sheppard, chair of the department of microbiology and immunology in McGill’s faculty of medicine, said the lockdown should have been implemented in mid-December, when new infections began to surge.

“My reaction is relief that they’re finally doing what needs to be done, but with incredible frustration that it’s so late,” Sheppard said in an interview.

“The reality is we know the case numbers and hospitalizations are going to keep going up for a minimum of two to four weeks once this starts.”

Sheppard urged the government to be straightforward in its announcement on Wednesday and to be clear, from the outset, how long the lockdown will be in effect and why it’s important.

Any lockdown less than a month long would be inefficient, he added.

“A real lockdown, to have a meaningful effect, takes a minimum of four weeks,” Sheppard said. “We saw it ourselves in the spring, and it’s been seen around the world. It’s based on science.”

News of the lockdown comes as a growing number of health experts inside and outside of government describe the crisis in Quebec as now being out of control and directly threatening the health-care system’s ability to operate.

On Tuesday, Quebec reported 2,508 new cases of COVID-19, with 62 more people dying of the disease.

There are now 1,317 people hospitalized with the disease in the province, including 194 in intensive care. Montreal reported 790 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

As of Monday, Quebec had administered 32,763 doses of vaccine against the virus.

In all, 215,358 Quebecers have had COVID-19, with 182,602 of those having recovered. A total of 8,441 people have died of the disease in the province.

This story will be updated.