Photo: Screenshot from Facebook page

On the fourth Sunday of Lent, Rev. Katherine Burgess expected to be standing before her congregation in Kirk Hall of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Old Quebec. Instead, with in-person gatherings in churches banned as part of Quebec’s effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, she read a sermon from her home, seated in front of a mobile phone and a single lit candle.

Spring officially began at 11:49 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 19, but here in Quebec City, much as we’d love to be out and about enjoying the nice “almost-but-not-quite-spring” weather, most people have hunkered down, obeying government instructions to avoid picking up and spreading the COVID-19 bug.

Photo: Luc Lang

On March 16, Quebec AAA Midget Hockey League president Yannick Lévesque announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 playoffs. “Even though the Telus Cup was cancelled, we hoped to finish the playoffs as we were in the middle of the quarterfinals,” said Lévesque.

Photo: Luc Lang

The Quebec Capitales and the Frontier Baseball League have both issued statements in recent days regarding the possible postponement of the leagues’ opening games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: Cassandra Kerwin

Irish eyes weren’t smiling in Quebec City when it was announced that edition 2020 of the Défilé de la Saint-Patrick was cancelled due to COVID-19. The Quebec City St. Patrick’s parade isn’t alone in being cancelled, however. In Montreal and a number of cities in the United States, and even in Ireland, parades won’t be held this year.

Photo: Cassandra Kerwin

After the terrible weather on Friday the 13th of March, Quebecers had a wonderful spring-like weekend. Despite strong government advisories to the public to “self-isolate,” many locals went out and enjoyed the gorgeous weather on the nearly empty Plains of Abraham.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons - Public Domain

Rue du Général-Tremblay is named in honour of Thomas-Louis Tremblay (1886-1951), who was born in Chicoutimi. He studied at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.

By the time you read this … well, who knows?

Photo: Journal de Lévis

Laurence Allard, project co-ordinator of the South Shore English Network (SSEN), and Brian Gignac, executive director of the Megantic English-speaking Community Development Corporation (MCDC) located in Thetford Mines, welcomed the QCT to their office in the Saint-Romuald district of Lévis.

Photo: Danielle Burns

From daycare centres to universities, Quebec’s educational institutions, like Cégep Limoilou pictured here, have been closed due to COVID-19 as Canada makes efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Many people are working from home when possible and practising social-distancing. The situation has been changing rapidly in the past few days.

Photo: Peter Black

Motorists, commuters, pedestrians and merchants will face some challenges for several months beginning in May with major construction work on Ave. Cartier between Boul. René-Lévesque and Chemin Sainte-Foy.

Photo: Lise Lafond

More than 260 exhibitors were present at the Salon Plein Air, Pêche et Camping de Québec, a show for outdoors enthusiasts, on March 12 at the Centre de Foire ExpoCité.

Photo: Ruby Pratka

You don’t expect to see a refrigerator in a school-yard, but when the students of École secondaire Joseph-François-Perrault had the opportunity to suggest renovations to their schoolyard last year, a fridge was at the top of the list.

Due to the COVID-19 government restrictions on places where people can gather, which are changing almost daily, many events have been CANCELLED or POSTPONED until further notice, or switched to online formats. For more information, please check with the organization involved.

Photo: Quebec Art Company

Rehearsals are well underway for the latest Quebec Art Company production, the edge-of-your-seat thriller Wait Until Dark. Written by British mystery-master Frederick Knott, the play is the story of a young blind woman matching wits against a trio of thugs plotting to get their hands on a doll stuffed with heroin hidden in her apartment.