COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know on Thursday

• Quebec reported 436new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and tenmore deaths.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been368,899confirmed cases and11,115people have died.
• There are394people in hospital (adecrease of five), including 96in intensive care (a decrease of five).
• 90,486more vaccine doses have been administered, for atotal of 5,202,132sinceDec. 14.

Quebecers who have received a shot of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine will be able to get a second dose sooner than expectedeight weeks after thefirst one.

As an example, Health Minister Christian Dub said anyone who received their first dose prior to April 3 can get the second dose as early as this weekend. The vaccine will be made available atwalk-in clinics.

The province initially planned on providing the second doses12 weeks after the first shot.

Those who received other vaccines for their first dose will likely be able to move up their second dose starting June 7. The rescheduling will be based on priority groups.

Montreal public health director urges caution

Montreal's public health director said the situation in Montreal is stable and improving, yet she still wants to wait a little longer to see if gatherings over thelong weekend will lead to outbreaks.

Dr. Mylne Drouinisencouraging the public to follow the guidelines.

Drouin said outbreaks in workplaces and school settings are on the decline, but there has been a slight uptick in cases in community settings including nine in parks.

WATCH | How vaccines make their way to the population:

How Canada's vaccines get from the factory to your arm

4 years ago

Duration 3:55

Behind the scenes, there's a complicated system that ensures vaccines leaving a foreign factory are safely administered here.

Bye bye curfew

Here's a recap of the restrictions being lifted as of tomorrow:

• Curfew will be lifted across the province.
• Eating on patios and decks outside of restaurants will be allowed.
• Outdoorgatherings of up to eight people on private property will be permitted.
• Travel between regions of Quebec will be permitted.
• Up to 2,500 people in a large theatre or arena will be allowed with assigned seating and measures in place.

The next part of the plan is to downgrade the province's red zones to orange zones. That change includes bringinghigh school students in Grades 9, 10 and 11 back into classroomsfull time and reopening gyms and restaurant dining rooms.

For much of the province, that is happening next Monday, May 31. However,Montreal, Laval, as well parts ofChaudire-Appalaches, the Lower Saint-Lawrence and the Eastern Townships will have to wait a little longer.

Some team sports allowed to restart next month

Baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer players will be able to return to the field as of June 11 in much of Quebec, but those living in areas like Montreal and Laval will have to wait until the end of June, the province's sports minister, Isabelle Charest, announced Thursday.

Supervised outdoor sports and recreation will be allowed in groups of up to 25 people. In red and orange zones, only sports without contact will be allowed. In yellow zones, sports with brief contact is acceptable.

Montreal and Laval athletes, as well as those in part of Beauce and the Eastern Townships, will have to wait at least until the end of June to resume their favourite low-contact sport.

Top COVID-19 stories

• The province will allow people to move up appointments for theirsecond dose as early as next week.
• Quebec expands itsvaccination campaign to teenagers.
• Canada is gearing up to reopen. Can it last?
• Canada has orderedmore than 400 million COVID-19 vaccine shots:Here's the progress report.
• Four more cases of blood clots linked to AstraZeneca reported in Quebec.
• Quebec's re-opening plan brings some much-needed hope, and some risks.
• Why Canada's big bets on delaying, mixing doses could be paying off.