Quebec day camps to operate as of late June with COVID-19 distancing measures

The Quebec government will allow children's day camps to open on June 22 with physical distancing measures due to COVID-19.

Premier Francois Legault told reporters in Montreal today that camps will proceed with smaller groups of children, and he encouraged teenagers and young adults to apply for counsellor jobs.

The premier says the province hasn't ruled out providing help for municipalities and groups that run the camps and will have to double staffing to meet public health guidelines.

Legault says the province is also looking to open up public pools, but authorities say sleep-away summer camps will likely be put off until the summer of 2021.

The province announced 82 more COVID-19 deaths today bringing the provincial total to 3,800, but Legault noted some of those deaths happened as much as five days earlier.

The province also added 720 new cases for a total 45,495 positive cases across the province, with 13,327 people recovered.