Quebec premier Francois Legault ordered the first pandemic curfew in Canada as part of new lockdown measures to slow the spread of a second wave of Covid-19.

The lockdown and 8:00pm to 5:00am curfew will take effect starting on Saturday in the province and last four weeks, Legault told a news conference.

“We've asked police to enforce these measures,” he said, adding that those breaking the rules would face fines of up to Can$6,000 (US$4,700), Reuters reported.

A curfew of this scale has not been ordered in Canada since the Spanish flu a century ago, according to historians.

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