Quebec orders shops, bars, restaurants, churches to operate at 50 per cent capacity

Quebec Premier Francois Legault has announced a series of new COVID-19 restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant, which he says risks overwhelming the province’s health system.

Legault told reporters in Montreal Thursday night, that vaccination isn’t enough to stop the transmission of Omicron and that health experts have told him Quebecers need to cut their contacts in half.

The premier said that starting Monday, all bars, restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues across the province will be required to operate at 50 per cent capacity.

Work parties will be banned, as will dancing and singing karaoke inside bars, clubs and restaurants.

The premier is also reversing a decision to ease indoor gathering limits ahead of the holidays, keeping the maximum at 10 people instead of raising it to 20 on Dec. 23.

WATCH: Quebec changes COVID restrictions

Earlier in the day, the province reported its most new COVID-19 cases in nearly a year.

“The situation is critical,” Legault wrote in a post on Twitter, adding that he will “announce significant measures due to the increase in COVID cases and the new Omicron variant.” Legault is scheduled to speak with reporters at 6 p.m.

Health officials in the province reported 2,736 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday – the highest number since Jan. 8 – and five additional deaths linked to the disease.

WATCH: Quebec health update – Dec. 16

The announcement came the same day a Quebec government health-care research institute said it expected more than 700 hospitalizations in the province, and more than 160 people in intensive care, within two to three weeks. The Institut national d’excellence en sante et services sociaux said it had adjusted its projections to take into account new research about the Omicron variant.

“According to the scenario applied to our context, the strong growth in the number of cases should translate into a marked increase in the number of daily hospitalizations in the coming weeks,” it said in a new release.

But the institute said it was less confident in its projections than usual, because it said its data on the Omicron variant is based on a single study conducted in South Africa, which has a significantly lower vaccination rate than Quebec.

The Health Department said 305 people were in hospital with the disease, a drop of four from the day before, after 34 people entered hospital and 38 were discharged. It said 63 people were in intensive care, a drop of 10.

Officials said 6.4 per cent of COVID-19 tests analyzed Wednesday were positive, up from 5.8 per cent a day earlier and 3.7 per cent two weeks ago. The province’s public health institute said it has confirmed 13 cases of the Omicron variant in the province and said there were another 129 suspected cases of the variant – up from just 24 a day earlier.

Also on Thursday, Quebec’s education minister said he has tested positive for COVID-19. Jean-Francois Roberge said in a post on Twitter that he has been self-isolating since Monday and planned to continue isolating until Dec. 25.

La situation est critique. Je tiendrai une conférence de presse, ce soir à 18h, pour annoncer des mesures importantes en raison de l’augmentation des cas de COVID et du nouveau variant Omicron.

— François Legault (@francoislegault) December 16, 2021