Quebec Gyms & Spas Are Officially Reopening On Valentine's Day

After more than a month of closure, Quebec gyms and spas will officially be able to open their doors to customers as of February* 14. Premier François Legault made the announcement in a press conference on February 1.

Gyms and spas will have to stick to a 50% capacity limit.

Adult sports and artistic activities will also be able to resume with a maximum of 25 participants on February 14.

The premier said he hoped these reopenings would be a boon for Quebecers' mental health.

Quebec's latest gradual reopening began on January 31 with the reopening of restaurants and a relaxation of gathering rules to allow up to four people or two households within a single private residence.

Cinemas and theatres will follow with a reopening scheduled for February 7.

Interim Quebec National Public Health Director Dr. Luc Boileau has resisted calls to present a full reopening calendar. But in a January 30 appearance on Radio-Canada's Tout le monde en parle, the director suggested that an increase in third COVID-19 vaccine dose rates could lead officials to speed up the end of lockdown.

"Until now we have not had the same evolution we had last year for the second dose," he said. "If people are able to get their booster dose it will change the picture."

"If we reached the same rate as last year, it's finished," Boileau continued. "There's no more, we lift everything, there's no more lockdown."

Quebec reported a total of 2,852 COVID-19 hospitalizations on February 1, a decrease of 36. That number still puts the province above the level four hospital occupancy level identified by the Ministry of Health.

*This article has been updated.