COVID-19 in Quebec: 'Life must go on,' says premier, outlining plan to reopen schools gradually

The latest:

• Quebec has 24,982 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,599 people have died. Of the 84 new deaths, 79 were in CHSLDs.
• There are 1,541 people in hospital, including 210 in intensive care.
• Here's a guide to the numbers.
• Quebec is expected to announce its plan to gradually reopen schools anddaycares today.
• Public Health Director Horacio Arruda says he now recommends people wear a mask in public if they anticipate being in a situation where they cannot stay two metres away from other people.

Confident that Quebec's hospitals are in control of the COVID-19 outbreak,Premier Franois Legaultoutlined a plan Monday to gradually reopen elementary schools and daycaresover the next month.

Legaultsaid he will announce a plan Tuesday to allow some businesses to reopen.Themovesare the Quebec government's firsttentative steps toward lifting the confinement measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,beginningin mid-March.

"Life must go on," Legault said at the government's daily news conference.

Education Minister Jean-Franois Robergeand Families MinisterMathieuLacombeprovided details about the planto reopen schools and daycares, including what measures will be taken to keep students and teachers safe.

Here are the main points:

• Elementary schools and daycaresoutside of the greater Montreal regionwill reopen on May 11.
• Elementary schools and daycaresof greater Montreal, including Laval and surrounding suburbs, will reopen on May 19.
• All other schools high schools, colleges and universities won't reopen until late August.
• Attendance will not be mandatory. Classrooms will be capped at 15 students, and daycareswill have to reduce their numbersby half.

Legault said the province will only stick to thistimeline if hospitalizations from COVID-19 remain the same or continue to decrease. There are now 1,541 people in hospital an increase of 23 over Sunday. Some 210 patients are in intensive care, down five from yesterday.

"The most important condition that needed to be met before thinking about reopening schools and businesses is being certain we're in control in our hospitals," Legault said.

"We have to be able to care for our people before we can have regular activities."

Legault outlined several other reasons why the government felt it was time to gradually reopen schools, even though no vaccine for the novel coronavirus exists.

It will benefit children, especially those with learning difficulties for whomfive or six months without attending school could pose serious, long-term consequences, he said.

He also noted that young children face the least risk of developing severe complications from COVID-19.

Quebec is the first province to attach specific dates to its plan to reopen part of itsschool system. Other provinces have set specific targets for the number new COVID-19 cases before they will allow children back in class, or they have opted to prioritize other activities such as a return to elective surgeries in hospitals as they consider how they will liftconfinement measures.

Quebec's major employers' group, theConseil du patronat du Qubec, welcomed the provincial government's decision, saying it hoped plans to reopen businesses would follow a similar timeline.

Parents' associations and teachers' unions, however, expressed concerns the government isrushing ahead without consulting widely enough before making a decision.

They worry the safety measures proposed, including reduced class sizes, won't be sufficient to preventfurther outbreaks.

Goal is not herd immunity, Legault says

At Monday's news conference,Legault stressed the goal of sending children back to school was not to develop herd immunity, an epidemiological concept that suggests a population can become resistantto a virus once sufficient numbers have antibodies from exposure to it.

Though Quebec has invoked the concept in the past, the World Health Organization andCanada's chief public health officer,Dr.Theresa Tam, warned recently there are too many uncertainties about COVID-19 to make herd immunity a public health objective.

Legault acknowledged those warnings Monday, saying: "I want to be clear we are reopening our schools for social reasonsand because the situation is under control, particularly in our hospital system."

Quebecs plan to get some kids back to school

4 years ago

Duration 2:01

The Quebec government has unveiled plans to get some students back in the classroom by the end of May.

The province's public health director, Dr.HoracioArruda,said Quebecers shouldn't interpret this decision as a sign it is safe to resume apre-pandemic lifestyle. Bans on public gatherings will remain in effect.

Arrudawarned thatschools and businesses could be closed once againif the hospitalizationnumbers spikeor if people stop following physical-distancing directives.

"If the population doesn't maintain distancing, we're going to lose everything, and we'll be forced to confine again in an intensive way," he said.

New projections suggest narrow window to ease restrictions

A pair of studies by Quebec researchers, released over the weekend, suggest the province may have narrow leeway when it comes to lifting confinement measures.

The studies were published by the province'spublic health research institute,the Institut national de sant publique duQubec, which provides scientific advice to the government.

In one projection, researchers estimate that if the confinement measures imposedso farhave reduced social interactions by 65 per cent, then social interactions could be increased by between 10 and 20 per cent with relatively little impact on hospitalizations and deaths.

If, however, social interactions have been reduced by less than 65 per cent, then a 10 or 20 per cent increase in social interactions would cause a drastic rise in the number of cases and deaths.

The projections don't specify to what extent Quebecers have reduced their social interactions since the province went into lockdown mode the week of March 23. That will be the subject of a subsequent study.

"The COVID-19 epidemiological situation is fragile in Quebec," says a slide presentation that accompanies the studies.

"Giving up on social-distancing measures (for example, gatherings or interactions of less than two metres) could changethe epidemiological curves from an optimistic situation to a pessimistic situation."

"The coming days will be critical for confirming the trajectory of the epidemic," the presentation continues.

Montreal police said Monday, for the most part, city residents have been following the public health directives, even though officers have issued 1,841 tickets since the directives were put in place.

"Obviously, when it's nice out, there are more people, and it can be harder to keep your distance, but despite everything, it's still been pretty acceptable," SPVM spokesperson Andr Durocher told Radio-Canada.

Durocher reminded people that they are not allowed to invite friends or family members into their homes or backyards, even if they plan on maintaining a two-metre distance from each other.

Instead, he suggested socializing with neighbours from their respective balconies.

Long-term care homes still struggling

Both the premierand Arruda, the provincial public health director,continueto draw a distinction between the situation in the population at large and inlong-term care residences, or CHSLDs,where the outbreak has proven most deadly.

But after spending several weeks pleading for Quebecers of all stripes to help care for seniors inCHSLDs, Legaultis now expressingconfidence the critical staffing shortagewill be resolved soon.

He said 11,000 Quebecers came forward over the weekend to indicate their willingness to work in CHSLDs, where thousands of health-care workers are offsick, mostly due to exposure to the virus.

"It's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders," he said.

But the situation remains critical in many of the province's long-term care and other kinds of seniors' homes, where most of the deaths have occurred.

Eighty-four more deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours. Of those, 79 were residents of CHSLDs.

With so many thousands of health-care staff infected, some replacement workers say they're being dropped into the long-term care homes without adequate training.

"There's despair in everybody's faces," saysone volunteer.

Others with experience in CHSLDs say they are not getting the support they need leading some to quit.

CBC Montreal revealed that four workers at a long-term care home in Laval,CHSLD Fernand-Larocque, resigned on Friday.

One of the people who quit, registered nurse Valrie Gilbert, described "war-like" conditions at the CHSLD.

"I'm raising the white flag, I admit defeat," she wrote on Facebook. "I am leaving this boat which is sinking faster than the Titanic."