(Katelyn Thomas/ Montreal Gazette) — Quebecers taking part in group activities outdoors will be required to wear masks in both red and orange zones as of Thursday, a measure the province’s health institute is calling preventive.
Unlike other places in Canada that have sounded the alarm on outdoor COVID-19 transmission, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) said on Wednesday that an increase has not yet been documented in Quebec.
“It’s not worrying us more than it did before,” said Dr. Stéphane Perron, a medical specialist at the INSPQ. “We haven’t seen more outdoor transmission with the variants; that hasn’t been observed.”
The government added the measure online following its Tuesday evening news conference, during which it reversed an earlier decision to lift certain restrictions in the province’s red and orange zones. (…)