COVID-19 live updates: Terrasses, picnics and family gatherings – Health Canada lays out post-vaccination timeline

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Updated throughout the day on Friday, May 15. Questions/comments: ariga@postmedia.com

Top updates

1:05 p.m.

Denis Côté’s Hygiène sociale is a non-pandemic pandemic movie

Ceci n’est pas un film sur la pandémie.

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Quebec director Denis Côté swears his new movie has nothing to do with the pandemic, but you would be forgiven for not believing him.

Read our full story, by T’Cha Dunlevy.

1:05 p.m.

Ariane Moffatt awakens the silent stage with socially distanced concerts

The Montreal singer-songwriter knows the setup for her three sold-out Corona Theatre shows won’t be ideal, but “it’s a symbolic gesture … to remind people that it’s time to come back out and go towards culture again.”

Read our full story, by Brendan Kelly.

1 p.m.

Federal ministers and health officials provide pandemic update

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12:55 p.m.

Outremont man found guilty of violating COVID-19 rule in his own backyard

An Outremont resident was recently found guilty of violating the Public Health Act after Montreal police discovered him leading nine other people in prayer in his backyard less than a month after the provincial government prohibited all indoor and outdoor assemblies.

Here’s our full story, by Paul Cherry.

12:30 p.m.

Terrasses, picnics and family gatherings – Health Canada lays out post-vaccination timeline

Quebec says it will soon unveil a deconfinement plan that will be based at least in part on vaccination progress.

Though local rules will be up to provinces, Health Canada today laid out a rough plan for “life after vaccination.”

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Here it is:

Spring

Cases are high and vaccine coverage is low.

Continue following local public health advice and maintain individual protective measures whether or not you have been vaccinated to keep yourself, your family, and your community safe.

More people need to be vaccinated before restrictions can be lifted.

Reach out to help friends, family or neighbours who might need help booking or getting to a vaccination appointment.

Summer

Cases are low and vaccine coverage is high for one dose and increasing for second.

If 75% of those eligible for vaccines have one dose and 20% have a second dose.

Then restrictions start to lift based on conditions in your area, but you still need to follow local public health advice and keep up with individual measures like physical distancing and wearing a mask.

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You can look forward to small, outdoor gatherings with family and friends.

You should still avoid crowds, but could be able to:

Fall

Cases are low and two-dose vaccine coverage is high.

If 75% of those eligible for vaccines have received a full COVID-19 vaccination series.

Then local public health will be able to lift more measures and you should be able to do more activities indoors with people outside your household.

However, COVID-19 will not be eliminated so you will still need to follow some public health measures.

You could be able to attend:

11:50 a.m.

Fewer flights land in Canada with COVID-19 since ban on planes from India, Pakistan

The number of planes landing in Canada carrying passengers with COVID-19 was cut by more than half in the two weeks after the federal government barred incoming flights from India and Pakistan, The Canadian Press reports.

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Transport Canada announced April 22 that direct flights from the countries would be halted for 30 days after high numbers of passengers were testing positive for the virus after landing.

The last flights to arrive from India landed in Toronto the next day.

Health Canada data posted online show between April 10 and 23, 135 international flights arrived with at least one passenger who had COVID-19.

Thirty-six of those were direct flights from India and two were from Pakistan.

Between April 24 and May 7, the total number fell to 56 flights, including a dozen from the United States and eight from Europe.

A spokeswoman for Health Canada says the ban on direct flights from India and Pakistan has also affected passengers trying to return to Canada from those countries on connecting flights through airports in Europe or the United States.

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11:35 a.m.

Inside one network cashing in on vaccine disinformation

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11:15 a.m.

Updated charts: Quebec cases, deaths

11:15 a.m.

Update on Quebec’s vaccination campaign

11 a.m.

Quebec reports 838 cases, 8 deaths as hospitalizations rise

Quebec has recorded 838 new cases of COVID-19, as hospitalizations increased.

The province’s seven-day rolling average fell for the 14th straight day and is at its lowest point in seven weeks.

However, Montreal Island’s seven-day rolling average is up for the first time in five days.

Four other Quebec regions reported higher per-capita case counts than Montreal today.

In addition, eight new deaths were reported, including two over the previous 24 hours.

The other deaths occurred between May 7 and 12.

Some other key statistics from Quebec’s latest COVID-19 update, published this morning:

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Since the beginning of the pandemic, Quebec has reported 361,820 cases and 11,025 deaths linked to COVID-19. A total of 343,142 people who have contracted the disease have since recovered.

10:30 a.m.

Quebec company offers $2,500 bonus to employees who get full vaccinated

DLGL Technologies, a Blainville software company, says it will give employees a $1,250 bonus for getting a first vaccine dose, and another $1,250 once they get the second shot.

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“We want to do our part for everybody’s safety and the unblocking of the health system, and to create as soon as possible the conditions required for the reopening of our headquarters,” DLGL president Jacques Guénette said in a press release.

10:20 a.m.

Here’s another way to find an open vaccination slot near you

Yesterday, we published a story about Vaccélérateur, an automated service that scans last-minute availabilities posted by Quebec’s Clic Santé vaccination site and alerts followers on Twitter as soon as they come up.

Well, there’s another website that can help you find a nearby available slot: Vaxstat.

9:45 a.m.

Quebec has started distributing electronic proof of vaccination

About 84,000 Quebecers have downloaded QR codes that will serve as an electronic proof of vaccination, Health Minister Christian Dubé said via Twitter this morning.

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Yesterday, the province started contacting people who have received a first dose. People are receiving emails or text messages explaining how to download the code.

Dubé today said: “Anyone who has already received a dose or who will be getting the vaccine from now on will receive an email or text asking if they want electronic proof. An update will be made with the second dose.”

However, it’s still unclear how the QR code will be used.

“There is no application because the only group that has the key to be able to read the QR code is us,” Dubé said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“So, until we release the way we should read the code, nobody has the algorithm to read the code. So, they cannot be used for anything just by looking at the QR code.

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“And this is the reason that we wanted to make sure that we release the QR code as quickly as possible, and what we’ve asked Public Health is to make sure that, and it’s not going to be in May, I just want to make sure that I clear the air, they will take the time to look at where it will be… possibly be used. It’s not going to be over the next few weeks.

“But, in the meantime, people will have those QR codes and they will be, at one point, able to use it for something. But, at this stage, nothing has been decided. And we still have the code. So, nobody can’t read that.”

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9:30 a.m.

Quebec sets one-day record – 110,000 vaccine doses administered

After administering a record 110,000 vaccine doses and opening the campaign to all adults in the province yesterday, 59 per cent of Quebecers have received a first shot or are booked to get one.

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9:25 a.m.

Delayed second Pfizer shot produces more antibodies: study

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine generates antibody responses three-and-a-half times larger in older people when a second dose is delayed to 12 weeks after the first, a British study said.

Read our full story.

9:25 a.m.

Canada unlikely to follow U.S. approach to easing masking rules: doctor

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear masks outdoors and in most indoor settings, but one of Canada’s top public health officials suggests a different approach would be taken here.

Read our full story.

9:25 a.m.

Opinion: A COVID note from school, just before Eid

“Eid is supposed to be a joyous time of celebration, and while I see the light at the end of the tunnel, a sense of heaviness remains. So many people have lost loved ones this year. How are we supposed to celebrate when we can hardly bring ourselves to shed the grief?”

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Read Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed’s latest column.

9:15 a.m.

A guide to COVID-19 vaccinations in Quebec

Local health authorities have set up mass vaccination sites across Montreal.

You can book appointments via the Clic Santé website or by phone at 1-877-644-4545.

Here are the nuts and bolts of getting vaccinated, by Katherine Wilton. Her guide includes the age groups targeted, how to book appointments, and addresses of vaccination centres.

Wondering if the vaccines are safe? Once vaccinated, can you disregard public health measures? Is vaccination mandatory? Read our FAQ, by Jason Magder.

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9:15 a.m.

Here are the current pandemic restrictions in Montreal and Quebec

We are regularly updating our list of what services are open, closed or modified in Montreal and Quebec, including information on the curfew and other lockdown measures.

You can read it here.

9:15 a.m.

Here’s where Montrealers can get tested today

Montrealers can be screened at test centres across the island.

You can check screening clinic wait times here.

8:45 a.m.

The situation across Canada

Here’s the rate of case growth per 100,000 people over the past seven days, via the federal government’s latest epidemiology update.

8:30 a.m.

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ariga@postmedia.com

Read my previous live blogs here.