COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know Monday

• Quebec reported 509new cases ofCOVID-19 on Monday and one new death.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 434,849confirmed cases and 11,546people have died.
• There are 202people in hospital (an increase of 13),including 42 in intensive care (no change).
• As of Monday, the province has administered 13,406,962doses of theCOVID-19 vaccine, including 4,483 in the last 24 hours.
• 91per cent of the eligible population in the province (age 12 and up) hasreceived one dose of vaccine, and 87per cent hasreceived two doses.

Note:Quebec'sHealth Ministry does not publish the number of vaccines administered on weekends and public holidays.

Quebec isrelaxing public health restrictions for high schools, restaurants, bars and fitness centres. This asCOVID-19 cases in the province rise but hospitalizations decrease.

Starting today, high school studentsare no longer obligedto wear a mask in classrooms.

However, students must wear wear masks in common areas and when moving around school grounds. Elementary students will still need to wear masks at all times, including while seated.

Singing and dancing are also makinga return to Quebec bars.

Patrons can now sing at venues so long as they wear a mask and remain two metres away from other people while singing. Venues will no longer need to keep a registry of clients.

Indoor recreational sportsnolonger have a cap on the number of participants.

Gyms and fitness centreswill no longer need to enforce a two-metre distance between patrons.

Back to the office

The city of Montreal has a plan for its employees to return to work, in person.

The mayor's office and its executive committee announced Friday that city workers who are still working from home full time will start to return to in-person work in a hybrid model as of Nov.29.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a quarter of the city's 28,000 employees have continued to work from home.

The plan to return to the office was prompted by the lifting of health restrictions particularly easing of the minimum distance between people indoors being reduced to one metre.

The pandemic has hit the city centrehard. The office vacancy rate rose from 11.5 per cent to 14.2 per cent in one year, according to a study released in October.

The city of Montreal hopes that the transition to the hybrid model will allow a return to a new normal downtown.

Third vaccine doses for seniors

The Quebec government will allow people aged 70 and over to book an appointment for their third COVID-19 vaccine dose as of tomorrow, Nov. 16.

The province's immunization committee, the CIQ, has recommended that Quebecers in that age group be offereda third dose, in order to boost their immunity against the virus.

The appointments will roll out gradually. Six months musthave passed since the person's last COVID-19 vaccine dose in order for them to be eligible.

People who have had two doses of AstraZeneca will also soon beeligible to make an appointment for a third dose, this time of an mRNA vaccine, Health Minister Christian Dubsaid at a news conference Tuesday.

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