COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know Wednesday

• On Wednesday, Quebec reported1,222people in hospital (a decrease of 30 from the previous day), including 69in intensive care (a decrease of eight fromthe previous day).
• The province reported 1,426new cases of COVID-19 and sixdeaths.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 932,176confirmed cases, and 14,126people have died.
• The province also reported Wednesday a total of18,490,870doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered, including4,942doses in the last 24 hours.
• 91 per cent of the eligible population in the province (agedfive and up) have received one dose of the vaccine;87per cent have received two doses, and 52 per cent have received three doses.

The future of masking will look very different across Canada in the coming weeks as provinces continue to lift mandates but experts say some people will likely continue using them.

University of Alberta Prof. Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in health law and policy, said the debate over masking will be the next "divisive topic" for the public going forward.

"Masks have been a divisive topic for a very long time, but I think it's really going to become the focal point," he said. "This is going to be increasingly about ideology. This is really about where you stand politically."

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases physician in Toronto, said there's been a "huge cultural shift and a growing acceptance of mask wearing," especially during cold and flu season.

"I think that we will see a lot more people wearing masks more frequently in the fall and winter months," he said.

Phasing out masks in Quebec

Meanwhile, most elementary and high school students in Quebec, including in Montreal, are no longerrequired to wear masks in class.

The relaxing of the measure Monday is theprovince's first steptoward lifting other mask mandates.

Quebec's interim public health director has said that as early as next month, wearing masks would become a matter of personal choice rather than an obligation.

Masking inpublic spaces isexpected to be phased out by mid-April, and for public transit, by sometime in May.

Ontario announced Tuesday it will drop most COVID-19 mask mandates includingin schools, restaurants and storesacross the province on March 21.

Fewer restrictions in workplaces

Also Monday, the minimum physical-distancing requirements droppedfrom two metres to one between workers in Quebec workplaces, other thanhealth care.

Quebec's workplace health and safety board (CNESST)says wearing a maskis stillmandatory if there is no physical distancingor physical barriers.

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