Avoid all social gatherings as COVID-19 community transmissions rise, health minister urges Quebecers

Health Minister Christian Dub appealed to Quebecers to cancel all their plans to gather with friends and family over the next few weeks includingThanksgiving dinner.

He said the next few weeks will be key in preventing the level of shutdowns that were seen in thespring because of COVID-19.

"We ask all Quebecers, regardless of colour code in their region, to restrict their public gatherings. This is very important," he said, referring to the alert system that the province is now using to determine the severity of the spread of the virus.

He said cancelling Thanksgiving plans would give Quebecers a shot at having "a nice Christmas."

One new region, MRC Avignon in the Gaspsie, moved into the yellow "pre-alert" stage Thursday. Montreal, Quebec City and Laval are already in the orange stage.

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Even though all Quebecers are permitted to gatherin small numbersunder the alert levels that are currently active, Dub asked people to avoid meeting with those who do not live in the same household.

With schools and businesses open, Dub said some semblance of normal life has returned. But at the same time, he said there are about 300 active outbreaks across the province.

With the virus being transmitted in the community,Dub said exposing health-care workers to illness is perhaps his greatest worry as cases continue to rise.

"Community transmission affects the staff of our health network and puts a lot of pressure on the health-care network," he said, adding that the province is already dealing with a backlog of surgeries and other medical services that had to be put on hold last spring.

Officials single out dinner parties

Hesaid Quebecers must make this short-term sacrifice in order to stop the second wave of infections in the province.

While Dub and Quebec's director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, singled out dinner parties, they said the province's restaurants canremain open.

"In restaurants, there is a [level of] control that is really different from a party," Arruda said.

Regulations put in place by the province's workplace health and safety board require masks to be worn when customers are not seated,and in orange zones, tables of more than six are not allowed.

Those who do not comply can be fined up to $6,000.