Checkpoints in Gatineau to end Monday

Roadside checkpoints installed in Gatineau, Que., to stop travel into and within the Outaouais during the COVID-19 pandemic will be removed Monday, the Quebec governmentsays.

The decision follows recommendations from public health authorities, said a Friday news release from the province.

Police began stopping drivers at bridges and highways across the Outaouaison April 1to enforce the province's ban on non-essential travel, a measure intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

While the checkpoints are coming down, Quebec's Ministry of Public Safety is stillurging the public not to see this as an incentive to travel around the region.

The province still wantsmovement to be limited to only necessary trips.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson tweeted he was glad the bridges between the two cities will soon reopen.

Could still return

Since the pandemic began, 367 people in Outaouais have tested positive for COVID-19 the vast majority of those cases were in Gatineau and most haverecovered. So far 10 people have died in western Quebec.

If case numbers in the Outaouais go up again, roadside checks could come back, the Quebec governmentwarns.

In addition to the Gatineau checkpoints, checkpoints inthe nearbyMRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouaisbetween Quebec and Ontario will also be removed May 18.

Elsewhere in the province, checkpoints in Cte-Nord will be lifted June 1, Friday's news release says. Checkpoints in MRC du Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent (Basse-Cte-Nord), Nord-du-Qubec, Nunavik as well as Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James will continue for the foreseeable future.