Don't plan your holiday menu just yet, Quebec's guidelines for limited gatherings coming soon

Quebec Premier François Legault said he plans to give guidelines in the coming days for how loved ones can gather, in limited numbers, over the winter holidays.

Legault said the situation has stabilized in much of the province, even if the rolling seven-day average remains above 1,000 cases per day.

"We'll announce our plan soon to allow everyone to prepare. But we'll have to be in a good position in December," he said Tuesday.

While nothing has been finalized, Legault said one possibility being considered in consultation with public health is to extend the winter school break by one or two weeks, with classes resuming in the middle of January.

There would not be online classes during this period, he said.

Legault said a decision will be made public shortly, within a month of Christmas, so that those preparing "turkeys, their tourtières and all that" know how many people will attend.

Dr. Horacio Arruda, the province's public health director, said extending the break would reduce the number of contacts after a busy holiday season.

He said shutting schools before the break would be more difficult, given that people will be busy preparing and more likely to socialize.

Legault said he doesn't anticipate any lifting of restrictions after second 28-day partial lockdown, which ends Nov. 23.

He said the rules for gatherings over the holidays will be the same across the province, regardless of the COVID-19 situation.