Quebec elementary students return to class after first weekend of provincewide curfew

MONTREAL _ Quebec’s elementary school students returned to class on Monday as health authorities reported 1,869 new cases of COVID-19 and a rise of 56 hospitalizations.

Premier Francois Legault has vowed to keep schools open despite imposing a provincewide curfew until Feb. 8 to reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus. Schools have been closed since Dec. 17, with remote learning in place for some of the weeks.

Returning elementary students of all grades will now have to wear masks in common areas of school buildings and on school buses, while those in Grades 5 and 6 will have to wear them in class. High school students will be learning remotely for one more week, until Jan. 18.

Monday is only the second day since Dec. 17 authorities have reported fewer than 2,000 cases. Health officials have repeatedly warned that the province’s health network is on the brink of having to ration care because of a steady rise of COVID-related hospitalizations.

Education minister Jean-Francois Roberge said last week that students will receive two report cards instead of three, and that the second would be weighted more heavily to allow struggling students to catch up.

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Quebec’s COVID-19 cases have continued to climb over the winter break, prompting authorities to impose a provincewide curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. The province has reported an average of 2,549 new cases of COVID-19 over the past week.

Montreal police said Monday they issued a total of 185 tickets and offence reports for curfew violations over the weekend. Offence reports, unlike tickets, must be reviewed by a prosecutor before a fine is issued.

Another 112 tickets and offence reports were distributed for other violations of COVID-19 regulations, police said.

On Sunday, Quebec provincial police said they issued more than 150 tickets to curfew violators on Saturday evening.

Health authorities reported 51 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus on Monday, including 18 within the preceding 24 hours. They said hospitalizations rose by 56, to 1,436, and 211 people were in intensive care, a rise of eight.

The Health Department said 8,400 doses of vaccine were administered Sunday, for a total of 92,452. Health Minister Christian Dube said Quebec has used 80 per cent of the vaccine doses it has received from Ottawa.

The province has reported 230,690 cases of COVID-19 and 8,737 deaths linked to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2021.