Quebec gyms, spas and sports allowed to reopen as of Feb. 14

Quebec gyms and spas will be allowed to reopen at half capacity as of Feb. 14, along with sports and artistic activities for groups of up to 25 people, Premier François Legault announced Tuesday. 

Gyms and other fitness centres have been closed in the province since late December, when they were shuttered in order to limit the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

With hospitalizations continuing to trend down and more health-care workers back on the job, Legault said it is the right time to lift more measures and to "establish a balance between physical health and mental health."

Several gyms across Quebec protested their ongoing closures, with some illegally opening their doors last Sunday.

"We see that people are getting impatient, Quebecers are fed up," Legault said at a news conference alongside Health Minister Christian Dubé and the province's interim public health director, Dr. Luc Boileau.

Fearing the "disruption of social peace", Legault also announced he is is scrapping a proposed tax on unvaccinated Quebecers.

The tax, which was announced in January by the premier, would have imposed a monetary penalty on Quebecers who did not get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Legault reiterated Tuesday that data shows unvaccinated people are much more likely to end up in hospital and are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19.

"Unfortunately, we can't go further and announce the relaxation of any other measures," Legault said, adding he's waiting for higher vaccination rates to lift more measures. 

"Only 61 per cent of adults have received their third dose," he said. "We have to increase this ratio. The third dose is very important to protect ourselves against Omicron."

As of Monday, restaurant dining rooms are allowed to reopen at half capacity. Cinemas and theatres are scheduled to reopen this coming Monday, Feb. 7, with certain capacity restrictions.

Last week,Quebec's junior health minister, Lionel Carmant, announced his plan to reach more than 500,000 adult Quebecers who remain unvaccinated. He said adding pop-up clinics, a hotline to speak with health-care professionals about their concerns, and other outreach programs will allow the province to make inroads in the next few weeks. 

On Tuesday, the province announced Carmant also set up a team to identify neighbourhoods in regions of Quebec where the vaccination rate is lowest in order to allocate resources where necessary. Teams will be going door-to-door to offer at-home vaccination, or to encourage people to make an appointment.

Last month, Quebec announced that the province would be expanding its vaccination passport system to require three doses, but the health minister says it's still too soon to announce a timeline to impose it.