Quebec to allow sports and extracurricular activities between class bubbles even in areas with more cases

Students in Quebec will be allowed to participate in school sports and extracurricular activities between class groups starting Monday, even in regions considered more concerning under the province'snew COVID-19 alert system.

Education MinisterJean-Franois Robergesaid students will be allowed to interact with those in their own class bubbles as well as with students in two other groups.

"We're keeping with the same principle that kids should stay with groups and they're not just free to go around," Roberge said Friday.

"They have to stay with their class and they're allowed to go with two other closed groupsgroups with always, day-after-day, the same other kids."

Programs for students with disabilities will also be allowed to resume between class groups.Thosestudents will also be placed into smaller groups for those activities and will be asked to keep a physical distance wherever possible.

Many organizers and parents had hopedintramural sports and art activities would resumeSept. 14,butPremierFranois Legaultsaid that would only happen if there wasn't a surge of COVID-19 cases.

On Thursday,Legault suggestedthere may besome restrictions on the kinds of extracurricular activitiesallowed for schools in regions classified as "yellow" under the province's new COVID-19 alert system.

Butthat is not the case. The rules will be applied the same in schools classified as "green" or "yellow," Roberge said.

If aregion is designated as"orange" or "red," however,students will then beconfined to their class bubbles.

"Of course, there's no zero risk when you're in a pandemic but this limits the risk," said Roberge.

Roberge said schools are now ready to open students up to other groups because they have learned to implement COVID-19 safety regulations and because the case numbers in schools have remained relatively low.

New list of school cases coming, minister says

The government took down its public list of schools impacted by COVID-19 Thursday night, but Robergesaid Friday they are working to get a new and more updated list up in the coming days.

"We had some issues with this list. We want to be sure that when we go public with the list, all the information is really right and reviewed to our satisfaction," he said.

In the meantime, he said parents at the schools affected will continue to be alert immediately.

According to the most recent data released by the government on Sept. 4, there were 118 schools across the province that had at least one case of COVID-19.

Watch: How Quebec's alert system works

How does Quebec's COVID-19 alert system work?

4 years ago

Duration 1:50

Quebec has unveiled a new, colour-coded COVID-19 alert system. Here's how it works.