Quebec to allow gyms to reopen March 26
Posted March 12, 2021 2:27 pm.
Last Updated March 12, 2021 2:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL _ Quebec will allow gyms to reopen across the province starting March 26, Isabelle Charest, the province’s minister responsible for sports said Friday.
In COVID-19 “red zones,” currently home to more than half the province’s population, people will be allowed to exercise in indoor facilities alone, with members of their household or with up to one other person.
In those regions, non-contact organized sports practices will be allowed to resume outdoors, with a limit of eight participants.
WATCH: Quebec officials give an update on sports in the province
Under “orange zone” regulations, which apply in most of the rest of the province, non-contact indoor sports practices will be allowed to resume with up to eight people, while 12 people will be allowed to participate in non-contact outdoor sports practices.
However, matches will not be permitted.
Charest said that with vaccination efforts underway, the provincial government is increasingly optimistic that Quebecers will be able to resume a more normal life in the coming months.
Earlier in the day, Quebec opened the door to Montreal residents who are 65 and older to make appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The city became the first region in the province to extend inoculations to that age bracket, and the Health Department announced that thousands of appointments were available for the next three days.
The province’s health minister had said this week the arrival of more doses would allow the ramping up of vaccinations in Montreal.
Premier Francois Legault also said his hope is that once those over 65 are vaccinated, more health restrictions could be relaxed, including a ban on indoor private gatherings.
Quebec has administered more than 648,000 vaccine doses so far _ about 7.6 per cent of the population _ after vaccinating 28,910 people on Thursday.
Health Minister Christian Dube reminded those who have received a first dose that they must continue to follow public health measures.
“All Quebecers, vaccinated or not, must continue to make efforts if we want to avoid a new increase in cases and outbreaks,” Dube wrote on Twitter Friday.
On Wednesday, the province opened vaccination appointments for those 70 and older for the entire province.
Quebec reported 753 new COVID-19 cases Friday and nine additional deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including three in the previous 24 hours.
The province’s Health Department says there are 550 patients in hospital, a drop of 13, with 106 requiring intensive care, a decrease of five. The province has 7,134 active cases.
Montreal now has at least one confirmed case of each of the three more contagious COVID-19 variants, adding a case of the B.1.351 mutation first identified in South Africa. Most of the cases in the city are the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
Quebec has had 343 confirmed variant cases and 1,847 presumptive cases.
Since the pandemic was declared last March, Quebec has reported 296,143 infections, 278,489 recoveries and 10,526 deaths.
