Quebec has extended its partial lockdown until May 4th. Premier François Legault had originally ordered all non-essential businesses closed until April 13th, but with COVID-19 cases still on the rise (up 947 since yesterday to 7944), Quebec will remain “on pause” as Legault put it, three weeks longer.
At the same press conference, Legault did have some good news. According to a Google Mobility Report, Quebec is the jurisdiction in Quebec that is respecting social distancing restrictions the most.
It didn’t really look like that yesterday in Montreal parks, though. In response, Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration closed Île Notre-Dame, the parking lots that serve Mount-Royal and the Atwater footbridge over the Lachine Canal.
These measures are to stop people from driving or otherwise communting to parks that aren’t in their area (some people who don’t live on the island of Montreal visited the mountain yesterday) or visiting parks in groups. The city also increased police presence in parks.
Plante also urged Montrealers to only visit parks near where they live and reminded the public that non-essential travel between parts of the city was strongly discouraged. Montreal remains under a State of Emergency.
