Legault Says It's Possible Partial Lockdown Could Last Longer

As three areas go into the red zone for almost all of October, Quebec Premier François Legault has not hid his concern about the rising number of cases and on Friday reiterated the possibility that the partial reconfinement in these Quebec regions could be extended.

But he was clear that officials will have to see how the next few weeks go.

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To be quite honest with you, we hope it will be just one month. But I've been honest with you from the beginning, it may be more than a month.

Premier François Legault

"It takes two to four weeks before we can see the effects of our measures," he explained.

But he said what's "certain" is that officials will "look at adding measures quickly, if we're going to have a possibility — and I do mean a possibility — that there will be a significant drop by the end of October."

The premier also encouraged people to adhere strictly to the red zone rules.

"Don't ask yourself how you can get around the rules," he said. "Ask yourself how you can make sure you're always at least two metres away from other people."

Quebec reported 1,052 new COVID-19 cases on Friday — the first time since May that there were more than 1,000 in a single day.

"If there was anyone who needed any more proof that the situation is critical, we have it day after day."

This article was originally published in French on Narcity Québec.