Students and parents might have to prepare for a lengthy stay at home. At his daily public update on the COVID-19 situation, Premier François Legault said that it is "unlikely" Quebec schools will reopen by April. Instead, his government is "looking at whether we can try to aim for the beginning of May, but different scenarios are being examined."

"Teaching younger children online seems very difficult, and I'm thinking of all children who have difficulties, so we're looking at different scenarios."

"Over the next few days, we should be able to give a clearer indication."

On Friday, March 13, Legault announced the closure of all schools, CÉGEPS, and universities in the province for a period of two weeks.

Initially, the government planned to reopen schools on March 30. 

The announcement of the probability of prolonged closure comes after several universities in Montreal, including Concordia, McGill, and the Université de Montréal, told students that they would have to move out of residences by the end of the month.

The province closed schools shortly after banning gatherings of 250 people or more. 

The STM, however, remains operational. Though a petition calls for the closure of the metro, both the transit company and the Premier maintain that it's critical to keep it open so that healthcare professionals can get to work.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Quebec, meanwhile, has climbed to 139 as the province increases its testing capacity.

An additional 2,403 people are under investigation and there have been 7,666 negative results.

One person has died.

Quebec health officials released guidelines for individuals to follow to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in the province. You can read about them here.

More information on hygiene practices during the pandemic is available on the government of Canada's website here.

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