COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know Tuesday
CBC
The new cases are those reported to the Quebec government only. They are believed to be an underrepresentation of the virus's spread, given the limited availability of PCR tests and use of home testing kits.
Quebec Premier François Legault is expected to hold a COVID-19 news conference this afternoon.
According to sources speaking to Radio-Canada, the premier is expected to announce a slight easing of some restrictions.
Legault is expected to announce that restaurant dining rooms could reopen next week, but with 50 per cent capacity and a maximum of two households per table.
Sources also say to also expect an announcement regarding sports, but the details are not yet known.
Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge said at a news conference Monday that he hasn't heard of any schools or classrooms in Quebec that have been closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks since students returned to in-person learning last week.
Roberge said the ministry reached out to a number of school boards last week and there were no closures reported.
"One hundred per cent of our classes and our schools were open," Roberge said.
"It's possible that there are some exceptions at the margins, but the portrait that I have had of the past week so far is that the network is open as we wished," Roberge said.
With the return to class the province introduced new guidelines for managing outbreaks in schools.
Parents are no longer automatically informed in the event of positive COVID cases in their child's school or class, and classes are only shut down if a minimum of 60 per cent of students are in isolation at any given time.
Roberge said students were expected to be in class, despite fears from some parents about a lack of transparency.
As of Monday, larger retail stores in Quebec will require a vaccination passport for entry.
In a bid to persuade COVID-19 vaccine holdouts to get the jab, Quebec has expanded the vaccine mandate to include all businesses with surface areas of 1,500 square metres or more — with the exception of groceries and pharmacies.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.