COVID-19: Quebec closing shopping malls, schools and restaurant dining rooms until May 1 | CBC News

Restaurants, shopping centres and beauty salons are being ordered by the Quebec government to shut their doors by midnight.

The new regulation is part of the province’s expanding efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Premier François Legault said the order will be in place at least until May 1. Restaurants will still be able to operate take-out service. 

Schools, universities and CEGEPs will also remain closed until May 1, Legault said Sunday. Earlier this weekend, the government announced it had banned most public and private gatherings of more than two people.

There are now 219 people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the province, up 38 since yesterday. Twenty four people have been hospitalized, 13 of whom are in intensive care. 

“As expected, the number of cases continues to grow, but the actions we’re taking since 10 days will start to really pay off in the next few days,” Legault said.

Legault said there are four deaths that have been linked to the virus in the province, not five as he had said in a news conference yesterday. Legault said the fifth person had been a presumed case, but that a test came back negative for COVID-19.

The City of Montreal, meanwhile, is opening an outdoor testing site where the public can be tested for COVID-19 without an appointment if they fit certain criteria.

The new site at the Place des Festivals will open Monday. People will be able to visit either on foot or by car.

One of the following criteria must be met to be tested at the new site without first calling for an appointment:

The city is setting up 30 screening stations and will operate the site from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. The site’s entrance is at the corner of de Maisonneuve Boulevard and St-Urbain Street.

Patients can be triaged from their cars, but the screening is done outdoors, under large heated tents. You must bring your RAMQ card or another piece of identification and visitors are advised to wear outdoor clothing.

Results of the tests are expected within two to three days.

Montreal’s existing screening clinic, in the emergency room of the old Hôtel-Dieu hospital, has tested a total of nearly 4,000 people so far.

The new site at Place des Festivals will roughly triple the city’s testing capability, bringing it from 600-800 to 2,000-2,500 daily.

The STM is asking those going to the screening clinic not take public transit to get there.

Flight from Morocco arrives in Montreal

While flights out of Morocco have been cancelled, the Canadian government arranged for a flight out of the Casablanca airport.

The flight landed early Sunday morning at Trudeau Airport. While those on board the 450-seat plane were happy to be home, they urged the government to help those left behind as soon as possible.

Hydro-Québec is waiving late-payment fees for customers, acknowledging that the COVID-19 outbreak has hit many Quebecers hard financially. The policy goes into effect Monday.