Just a week after the new rules were set in place to stop the spread of Covid-19, as well as the red alert status getting underway, the Quebec Government has added a whole new set of rules and closings that have more than shocked most.
Just as the city of Montréal has been getting used to the new rules set in place because of the red alert issued last Thursday, the Quebec Government has declared that now other businesses must close, and what more, a whole other demographic must now wear masks—a demographic that a week ago was deemed exempt from the new rules.
High school students must now wear masks
In addition to this, students will only be required to go to school on a one-day-yes, one-day-no basis. Jean-François Roberge, who acts as Minister of Education stated that this would surely limit the number of passengers on public transportation and in the actual school at one given time.
Plans are also being set in place to lower the number of kids in classrooms and in the hallways, the one-day-yes, one-day-no basis will surely help with that. Also stated was the plan to have only one child per bench on school busses. Lunch will be eaten in classrooms apparently.
Roberge said in a statement: “I’m calling on students to adopt these new measures and respect them. I’m calling on parents to explain to them and accept them.”
At the higher level of education (College / University), sports rallies and get-togethers have been canceled in all schools and those living in dormitories cannot have any visitors at all. School gatherings at other levels have also been canceled and/or postponed.
Who still mustn’t wear masks?
And still, it’s elementary students that are asked not to wear masks, they still exempt from even that, which has certainly perturbed many, as many feel that it’s the smaller children that more readily carry germs—as it has always been, even before the pandemic, they not being aware of proper hand-washing and distancing measures.
Who is being asked to close?
And in another shocking turn of events, it has been gyms that have been asked to close once again, despite the fact that most gyms were operating on an appointment based fashion for quite some time now. This of course is in addition to all other aforementioned businesses asked to close until the 28 day period is over.
These new rules will be set in place as of Thursday October 8th.
Why aren’t they closing schools completely?
And this is definitely a question that has saturated Social Media in Montreal since this announcement made the rounds on the internet, and the question that keeps coming up is that despite the changes that have already been made, the numbers have not ceased to rise … the numbers spiking with 1000 cases or more for four straight days! Something is obviously wrong somewhere, many feel, the decisions not making much sense overall.
To many, the new rules and protocols seem to be a lot more work than is necessary right at this time.
The government is also looking to hire a whole team of janitors that they will reportedly pay 20-24 dollars an hour in schools, money that perhaps could have gone elsewhere right now had they closed schools and offered remote studies via Zoom for students of all ages.
So as the numbers rise, many are left to wonder if this new form of lockdown will truly end on the 28th, as was originally projected. Because as numbers rise daily, newer rules seem to be put in place at least every week, which is the track record after just two. We’ll keep you posted both here an online, dear readers … http://px-news.com/
