Quebec has no plans to restrict travel at Ottawa-Gatineau crossings as COVID cases rise

A Quebec politician says there are no plans to restrict travel at Ottawa-Gatineau border crossings despite Quebec’s new overnight curfew and tightened restrictions on gatherings.

Starting today, a provincewide curfew will be in effect between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. as Quebec battles a rise in COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant. People who violate the curfew will face fines up to $6,000.

Appearing on CTV Morning Live Friday morning, MNA Christopher Skeete was asked if the Quebec government is considering new restrictions to limit non-essential travel at provincial boundaries.

"There's nothing planned for the time being," said Skeete, who is the parliamentary secretary for Premier Francois Legault.

"If you have a cottage in Quebec, come on down. Just please be careful and try to shop on the Ontario side if you can just as a way of protecting Ontario and Quebec on its own. You're more than welcome to come and just limit your contacts while you're here."

Last April, Ontario restricted interprovincial travel from Manitoba and Quebec to deal with a rise in COVID-19 cases during the third wave. Quebec also imposed travel restrictions into the province from Ontario last spring, with police setting up random checkpoints at crossings.

Quebec closed its borders to non-essential travel in the spring of 2020, with police setting up checkpoints at Ottawa-Gatineau crossings to limit travel.

Skeete admits the overnight curfew is an "extreme measure", but says it is necessary to try and stop COVID-19 transmission and overwhelming the health care system.

"I'm also upset. No one here is happy about what we've had to do. The reality is the Omicron variant is so transmissible that there's a risk to our health care system," said Skeete.

"You have to see it this way – if everybody gets sick at the same time and we all have symptoms, even proportionally if Omicron is less dangerous or whatnot, if we're all throwing ourselves at the emergency room at the same time then there's a problem with the number of people going to the hospitals.

"If you combine that with absences in health care workers and other people from all sectors, there's increasing absences well then we have a capacity issue."

NEW RESTRICTIONS IN QUEBEC

The Quebec government announced new restrictions for Gatineau and Quebec in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Here are the new restrictions:

Curfew

Starting Dec. 31, a curfew is in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

People who violate the curfew are subject to fines ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.

Exceptions include:

• You are required to work or transporting goods needed for the ongoing activities of work
• Visiting a hospital, clinic, dentist or optometrist's office
• You are going to a COVID-19 vaccination clinic
• Visiting a pharmacy
• You must visit a sick or injured parent
• Walking the dog
• Accompanying a child to work

Social gatherings

As of 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, private gatherings are prohibited in Gatineau and across Quebec.

Only people living in the same residence are allowed to gather in a home.

Restaurants and bars

As of 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, restaurant dining rooms will be closed.

Establishments can only offer take-out, drive-thru and delivery to customers.