Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #Physicaldistancing

1) Premier François Legault flip-flopped Friday, acknowledging Quebec is in the “beginning of a third wave” in the #pandemic only three days after insisting the opposite. Unlike previous waves, more contagious variants of the #coronavirus are to blame here and across Canada.

2) For much of the #pandemic, British Columbia has managed to keep transmission of the #coronavirus relatively low. But on Friday, B.C. authorities confirmed 215 cases of the P.1 variant, the same strain that is causing massive deaths in Brazil. Quebec so far has one P.1 case.

3) Meanwhile, Ontario on Friday declared it has 58 cases of P.1, up by four from the previous day. In total, Ontario has 1,612 confirmed variant infections, more than double the tally in Quebec. And like B.C., #COVID19 hospitalizations in Ontario are on the upswing. See below.

1) As Quebec on Monday posted 51 more presumptive cases involving the more contagious #COVID19 variants, new projections warn the province could be hit with a third wave in March and April that's much higher than the previous two.

2) Simon Fraser University researchers Elisha Are and Caroline Colijn wrote in a blog posting on Monday that most of Canada has been able to control #COVID19 recently, but they suggested that the B.1.1.7 variant (now spreading through Montreal) poses a much bigger problem.

3) Should B.1.1.7 become established, Quebec and five other provinces could be sideswiped by exponential growth in #COVID19 cases, with a doubling time of one to two weeks, compared to earlier doubling times of up to 40 days in Ontario. Please see the chart below for Quebec.

1) On the same day authorities announced 86 probable cases of the more contagious #COVID19 variants in Quebec, Premier François Legault announced he will reopen movie theatres, public pools and arenas on Feb. 26. In this thread, I will examine these contradictory developments.

2) The probable cases were confirmed mostly in Montreal and likely involve the B117 variant that originated in the U.K. The results followed the screening of 925 positive samples, but Health Minister Christian Dubé warned this does not mean the probability rate is 9.3%.

3) Dubé suggested it may be 2%, which appears to be the case in Laval. But given that the B117 variant is at least 50% more transmissible than the current so-called wild type, it may be only a matter of time before the B117 strain becomes dominant in the greater Montreal region.

1) Quebec reported five more cases of the super transmissible B117 variant Monday, raising the total to just 13. That compares with 303 in Ontario, 164 in Alberta and 29 in British Columbia. In this thread, I'll try to explain why Quebec is under-reporting the number of variants.

2) Clearly, Quebec authorities are behind Ontario, Alberta and less populous B.C. in sequencing the variants to determine lineage. But Quebec could add another category to its stats pending confirmation by sequencing: new figures on cases containing the N501Y mutation.

3) The three more contagious variants — B117 (which originated in Kent, England), B1351 (which appeared in South Africa) and P1 (which has swept through the state of Manaus in Brazil) — share the spike protein mutation, N501Y. Quick PRC tests can pick up cases with this mutation.

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1) The more contagious and deadlier B117 variant has now been found in every province in Canada and is on the increase in Ontario. But Quebecers have been in the dark since Tuesday about the extent of the spread of this variant and others.

2) Montreal shopping malls are once again packed with customers, many not maintaining #PhysicalDistancing. Officially, Quebec has eight cases of the B117 variant that originated in the U.K. By comparison, Ontario, reported cumulative 303 cases Saturday, up by 28 since Feb. 11.

3) On Sunday, Health Minister Christian Dubé urged Quebecers to limit their social contacts, saying the threat of the variants remains preoccupying. Yet how can the government reinforce this message, especially to those in shopping malls, without regular updates on the variants?

Brian Gehlbach ☕️ 🩺 🎹

@BrianGehlbach

Consequences of surging hospital admissions across the #midwest

1) Busy rural ER docs calling 6,7,8 hospitals to try to find a bed for a sick patient in need of tertiary care. And failing.

2) Repurposing existing beds to accommodate #COVID19 patients. 1/8

3) Rescheduling ever more urgent surgeries--heart surgery, cancer surgery, spine surgery--to some future date...a "less busy" date that is hard to see right now.

4) Staffing these new #COVID units, in some cases with non-ICU practitioners. 2/8

5) Competing for travel nurses to try to meet increased staffing needs. Many hospitals are short-staffed at baseline. Without an ICU team, an ICU bed is just a bed. 3/8

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PIB in Maharashtra 🇮🇳

@PIBMumbai

@MIB_India

#IndiaFightsCorona

Press briefing on actions taken, preparedness and updates on #COVID19, today at ⏰4:30 PM

Join Live:

@MIB_India @PIB_India @airnews_mumbai @DDSahyadri @MoHFW_INDIA @drharshvardhan

@MoHFW_INDIA

India's #COVID19 recoveries cross 79 lakhs; highest in the world

More than 11.96 #COVID crore tests conducted ; more than 11 Lakh tests conducted daily during last week

Daily positivity rate during last week, 4.2%

- Secretary, @MoHFW_INDIA
Live Now:

@MoHFW_INDIA

#IndiaFightsCorona

New #COVID19 cases/million population reported in last 7 days - 235; new cases reported across the world is 482

New #COVID deaths/million population reported in last 7 days ; world average is 7

- Secretary, @MoHFW_INDIA
Live Now:

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Dr. Theresa Tam

@CPHO_Canada

1/5 #COVID19 key concerns in 🇨🇦: With continued acceleration of infection rates in several areas + still rising hospitalizations & deaths, ↓ close contacts + keeping ↑ protections is everyone’s responsibility to save lives! #Everyday #COVIDhero
canada.ca/en/public-heal…

2/5 The #COVID19 virus spreads from an infected person through respiratory droplets & aerosols created when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, shouts, or talks. Larger gatherings and indoor settings pose a higher risk.
canada.ca/en/public-heal…

3/5 Droplets vary in size from large droplets that fall to the ground rapidly (within seconds or minutes) near the infected person, to smaller droplets, sometimes called aerosols, which linger in the air under some circumstances. #COVID19

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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape

Across Europe #covid19 cases are surging and the continent is shutting down again. Germany‘s second shutdown began yesterday, Austria‘s starts today, England is following on Thursday. How did we get here? What‘s the plan? Quick thread and my story here: sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/e…

First: What went wrong? Many ways to think about this. But to be clear: It was always going to be hard. I wrote about Europe‘s „dangerous“ path out of the lockdowns in April (science.sciencemag.org/content/368/64…). Consensus was it would be trial and error. We erred, but did we really try?

@gmleunghku

In April, @gmleunghku explained 3 dials governments had to keep transmission in check:
test, trace, isolate -TTI
border restrictions
physical distancing

TTI worked reasonably well in some European countries. Border restrictions: meh. Backbone of strategy was #physicaldistancing

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1) Across Canada, some efforts are underway to improve ventilation in schools to prevent children and teens from contracting #COVID19. In Quebec, however, little is being done. In this thread, I will call upon the provincial government to do something fast.

2) I first urged authorities in Quebec to upgrade ventilation in schools in early August. On Sept.26, with most schools already open for a month, Education Minister Jean-François Roberge announced $20 million for the maintenance of existing ventilation, not upgrades.

3) That investment works out to less than $7,000 per school. Quebec, with one-tenth of Germany’s population, is investing 2.37% of what Germany is spending to upgrade the ventilation of its public buildings, including schools and universities.

1) Nearly two weeks after Montreal public health officials disclosed a major #COVID19 outbreak at a seniors’ residence on Sherbrooke St. E., this cluster of cases still hasn’t appeared in the government’s daily updates. In this thread, I will note this is not the only omission.

2) Dr. Mylène Drouin, of the health department, had confirmed that the outbreak at Les Résidences Soleil Manoir Plaza infected 28, hospitalized six and killed one. However, only three cases are currently listed at the seniors’ facility and no deaths, according to Monday’s update.

@ThomasGerbet

3) Lest anyone dismiss this as an isolated incident, credit goes to Radio-Canada’s @ThomasGerbet for exposing information gaffes involving at least six other seniors’ residences and long-term care centres. Two outbreaks were absent from the updates. ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/17422…

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1) Quebec crossed a sombre milestone Thursday, declaring more than 6,000 deaths in the #pandemic, 15 more than all of Sweden, a nation with a population that is 1.7 million greater than the province’s. In this thread, I will highlight some other grim milestones.

2) Also Thursday, the province crossed the thousand-mark in the number of schools reporting either a student or teacher testing positive for the #coronavirus, according to covidecolesquebec.org. In some schools, there are so many cases officials can’t keep track of all of them.

3) Again on Thursday, Montreal crossed the 4,000-case milestone of new #coronavirus infections in just the past two weeks. That tally in the second wave represents nearly 11% of all of the city’s cases since the World Health Organization declared #COVID19 a #pandemic on March 11.

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PIB in Maharashtra 🇮🇳

@PIBMumbai

#MaskUp India

Let's take the pledge to follow #COVID Appropriate Behaviours

Remember, don't share your #Mask with others

#MaskUp

Each person should have 2 face covers so you can wear one, while the other is washed and dried

#Unite2FightCorona

Encourage everyone around you to #MaskUp

Until we have a vaccine, #COVID Appropriate Behaviour is the vaccine

Let's #Unite2FightCorona

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Dr. Theresa Tam

@CPHO_Canada

1/5 #COVID19 key concerns in 🇨🇦: National daily case counts continue to ↑ steeply, with an avg. of more than 1,800 new cases being reported daily during the most recent 7 days. The number of cases hospitalized has also increased. canada.ca/en/public-heal…

2/5 An average of 585 individuals with #COVID19 were in Canadian hospitals on any given day and 14 deaths were reported daily over the past week.

3/5 New cases in Ontario and Quebec account for over 80% of the cases reported nationally over the past week. BUT, no matter the trajectory of your jurisdiction, we must all remain vigilant and committed to protect one another. #StrongerTogether

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1) On the eve of Quebec’s announcement Monday that it will impose new restrictions in the #pandemic, a quarter of the province’s schools on Sunday night have declared at least one case of #COVID19 among students and staff. In this thread, I will revisit the topic of schools.

2) As of 9:44 p.m., 767 of the province's 3,000 schools have at least one infection, according to covidecolesquebec.org. On the island of Montreal, 10 schools have reported at least five cases each. But authorities last week confirmed at least 30 school outbreaks in the city.

3) However, the extent of the #COVID contagion in schools is not fully known because authorities aren't systematically screening students, as they are in Germany. Even in classes where a student has tested positive, not every pupil is screened. It differs from school to school.

1) For three days in late June, Montreal reported no new cases of #COVID19 — a stunning turnaround in the #pandemic. But for the past three days this fall, the metropolis’s daily tally has averaged 362 cases. What went wrong? In this thread, I will offer possible explanations.

2) First, let me reiterate it’s highly unlikely, as Quebec’s public health officer suggested Sept. 26, the province has been hit harder by a second wave than elsewhere in Canada because of a more “invasive” and “lethal” #coronavirus strain. Other provinces have this strain, too.

3) Second, it was not inevitable that Quebec should be so hard hit during the second wave, especially given its tragic experience with the first one. British Columbia, after observing an increase in August, has managed to lower its incidence rate recently. See the chart below.

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1) The number of Montreal school outbreaks has doubled to 30 in a week, the city’s top public health director revealed Tuesday. There are now as many #COVID19 clusters in schools as there are in the workplace. Yet authorities seem reluctant to want to do more to protect schools.

2) On Sept. 21, Dr. Mylène Drouin disclosed that there were 14 school outbreaks in the city and 28 in the workplace. By Tuesday, the two settings were tied at 30 each, followed by nine in health-care institutions, six in day cares and five following events in the community.

3) These figures would appear to demonstrate the #pandemic has been spreading more rapidly in schools than any other setting. Provincially, there are 1,043 active #COVID19 cases among students and school employees, according to the latest chart below by the Education Ministry.