MONTREAL — As Quebec introduced mandatory masks in indoor public places this weekend, there’s been some notable push back from residents who don’t want to wear one.
On Saturday, Quebec became the first province in Canada to bring about such a rule, which applies to people aged 12 and older.
Several anti-mask protests have taken place across the province, including a march Saturday in St-Georges, in the Beauce region south of Quebec City, and another with several dozen people in front of Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s office in Montreal today.
Protesters have called on masks to be optional despite the COVID-19 pandemic as public health authorities have pushed for people to don one amid concerns about a second wave of the virus.
Some videos have circulated online of people being ejected from stores after refusing to wear a mask, including one widely-shared incident in Montreal where police officers physically removed a man from a Tim Hortons restaurant in the city’s east-end about on Saturday afternoon.
Quebec continued to see a rise in the number of infections, reporting 166 confirmed cases today, bringing the total number of cases to 57,466 in addition to one death for a total of 5,655 since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number of hospitalizations and intensive care cases both went up by three today, after several days of declines in both categories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2020.
The Canadian Press
