COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know on Friday
Montreal shopping malls reopen, visitors allowed in some long-term care homes
- Quebec has 54,550 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5,375 people have died, an increase of 167 new cases and five deaths from a day earlier. Thirty deaths that occurred before June 11 have also been added to the total.
- There are 574 people in hospital, including 62 in intensive care. Here's a guide to the numbers.
- Quebec is relaxing physical distancing rules at daycares, starting Monday.
- Places of worship have been given the green light to reopen June 22.
- Quebecers heading to the Magdalen Islands will not be allowed to stay overnight in New Brunswick as previously announced.
Government projects record $15B deficit as a result of COVID-19
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard says that while the province is living through an unprecedented crisis, the economy should rebound by the end of 2021.
The government is projecting a record $15-billion deficit for the fiscal year, having spent $6.6 billion on recovery efforts and having lost revenue due to decreased consumer spending and export demand.
About 40 per cent of the province's economic activity was paused this spring, which put hundreds of thousands of Quebecers out of work.
Shopping malls reopen today
Montrealers looking to cool off from the hot and muggy weather will have another option Friday, with shopping malls reopening for the first time in months in the Montreal, Joliette and l'Épiphanie regions.
Shopping centres will limit the number of clients in order to ensure they can stay two metres apart from each other.
Food courts will not be open just yet — they are slated to open June 22.
Some long-term care home residents can have visitors
After 100 days strictly confined to their rooms, CHSLD residents can now go on outings, dine together, have their teeth cleaned and receive visitors, as long as there is no active coronavirus outbreak in their home.
In a letter sent to the heads of all regional health agencies Thursday, the deputy minister of health, Yves Gendron, laid out a plan to allow residents of long-term care institutions out of isolation, effective immediately.
Among the changes, volunteers will once again be welcome in homes where there is no sign of COVID, starting June 26. Leisure activities will also be permitted, and caregivers hired by residents or their families and people such as hairdressers will once again be permitted to offer their services, starting June 26, as well.
