Thought of the Day - October 2 - Montreal on Red Alert

As most of you have seen Montreal is now under Red Alert - the highest level. Personally I like the concept of alerting the public to high levels of infection spread (greater than R1) with a predefined set of restrictions (thus the shout out a couple of weeks ago: Thought of the Day - September 20 - By the Numbers ).

That said, this is what "Red" means:

• Private gatherings: While at home, people will not be allowed to receive visitors, but there are exceptions. For example, an elderly person can be visited by a person who is caring for them in their home. Also, a person who lives alone can receive one visitor. People who need work done on their homes can have it done by one worker;

• Public venues like cinemas, libraries and museums: Will be closed;

• Restaurant dining rooms, bars, brasseries, taverns and casinos: Will be closed;

• Businesses: Some businesses that were closed during the spring are allowed to stay open including stores, boutiques, hotels, hairdressers and barbers;

• Inter-regional travel: Legault said Monday that he “strongly recommends” that people not travel to a different region in Quebec;

• CHSLDs and seniors’ residences: People who reside at CHSLDs or similar residences can be visited by one caregiver at a time and a maximum of two per day;

• Outdoors: Social distancing of less than two metres is not allowed during outdoor gatherings and people participating in protest rallies will be required to wear masks;

• Public gatherings: Public gatherings are not allowed except for funerals and in churches or other places of worship where a maximum of 25 people are allowed to gather.

Even with the prepared list there are still a few grey areas being discussed, mainly around school bubbles. Hopefully BC will establish pre-defined restrictions ahead of requiring them, making it much easier for the public to understand and comply.

Cheers

Cliff