1) In less than two weeks, the number of Montreal schools affected by the #pandemic — but not necessarily declaring outbreaks — has nearly quadrupled. In this thread, I will try to explain what may be going on within the student population in the city.
2) Please compare the two maps below, courtesy of covidecolesquebec.org, the first dated Sept. 6 and the second today, Sept. 18. In the first map, Montreal counted two dozen schools where at least one student or employee tested positive. By Friday, that figure jumped to 93.
3) One of those schools, Herzliah, was forced Thursday to close for two weeks after a #COVID19 outbreak infected at least 15 students and a teacher. Six other schools have confirmed outbreaks less than three weeks into the academic year, according to the public health department.
4) Across the province, a total of 507 students and school employees screened positive for the #coronavirus as of Thursday, up from 453 the day before. The number of classes that have been shuttered temporarily rose to 189 from 173. Please see the chart below.
5) Since the start of the school year in Montreal, the sharpest percentage increases in positive tests results are among high school and elementary students, among all age groups. The increases have been 12.33% in the 10-to-19 age group and 11.86% in the 5-to-9 demographic.
6) Dr. Mylène Drouin, chief of the public health department, emphasized this week that the source of much of the positive #coronavirus tests in schools is the community at large, not schools per se. But as the school year wears on, that distinction will no doubt become blurred.
7) The spike in cases among students may result partly from Quebec conducting record-high testing. But Australian epidemiologist Zoë Hyde has warned “large clusters in school settings have been reported (elsewhere), with implications for the control of community transmission.”
8) As I’ve written before, #COVID19 cases in schools aren't occurring in a vacuum. On Friday, Montreal’s seven-day average rose to 48.15 cases per million residents. The city posted 58 new cases, with the cumulative tally in the metropolis crossing the 31,000 mark. See below.
9) At the neighborhood level, the health district comprising Verdun, Côte St-Paul, St-Henri and Pointe-St-Charles — a sub-region that's home to eight schools where #COVID cases have been identified — recorded the greatest number of infections Thursday, nearly a dozen. See below.
10) These rising trends suggest Quebec must do a lot more to lower community transmission. Instead of paying police overtime to patrol bars, why not close drinking establishments temporarily? Why not require students to wear masks in class? End of thread and stay safe everyone.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
1) BREAKING: The lengthy #COVID19 summer wave is continuing unabated in Quebec, along with other parts of North America and even around the world. Here in Quebec, it has been associated directly and indirectly with 1,100 hospitalizations for the past 12 days in a row.
2) As you can glimpse from the chart below, the #COVID testing positivity rate in Quebec was 20.9 per cent as of Aug. 11, the most recent date available. The trend line suggests the positivity rate has yet to peak.
3) Although nowhere near as fatal as it was back in 2020 (when vaccination was unavailable), #COVID this year has nonetheless been linked to 675 deaths, 38.7 per cent of which have occurred in octogenarians. But 30 Quebecers in their 50s have also died from #COVID in 2023-2024.
1) On Tuesday, the Quebec government unveiled its 2024-2025 budget, with the biggest expenditure to be made on health and social services. In this Twitter thread, I assess whether this "Health/Education Priorities" budget lives up to its hype, especially when it comes to seniors.
2) As you can see from the chart below, the lion's share of spending in the budget is for health and social services, pegged at $61.9 billion — up by 4.17% from the year before. In contrast, spending on education — so vital to Quebec's future — will rise 9.35% to $22.3 billion.
3) But as far as health and social services is concerned, Tuesday's budget may be indulging in a bit of spin. The chart below states that Quebec will spend an extra $3.7 billion over the next five years to "support a humane and effective organization of health care."
1) "The pandemic is far from over," one of the preeminent experts on #COVID19, Dr. Eric Topol, declared today, Jan. 4, 2024 — three years after the world first learned of a novel virus that was killing people in China. In this thread, I take stock of what's going on in Quebec.
2) "The pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by the rapid rise to global dominance of the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2," Topol noted in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. In Quebec, nearly one in two genetic samples collected was from JN.1 as of two weeks ago. It's likely higher now.
3) "Clearly this virus variant, with its plethora of new mutations, has continued its evolution ... for infecting or reinfecting us," Topol added. Although the updated booster is considered 60% protective against hospitalization, only 17% of the Quebec population has taken it.
1) BREAKING: By every major indicator, Quebec's health-care system is now arguably the worst it's ever been. Please click on my story below on Quebec wait lists for cancer and other surgery setting record highs — again. via @mtlgazettemontrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) Although Quebec has made it a priority to tackle wait lists for cancer surgery, more than 4,400 oncology patients are still waiting for their operations. More than 600 are waiting longer than the medically acceptable delay of 57 days, potentially putting their health at risk.
3) Even the wait list for so-called non-urgent surgery has now swelled to nearly 164,000 people. Almost 14,000 Quebecers today have been waiting more than a year for their surgery. At a year's wait, a non-urgent surgery starts to become urgent.
1) BREAKING: Quebec, like other jurisdictions across North America, is now in the midst of a new #COVID19 resurgence — nearly 4 years into the #pandemic. In this thread, I will assess the implications of this latest wave of infections, likely driven by a new SARS-CoV-2 variant.
2) On Dec. 5, Quebec declared a total of 2,214 hospitalizations with and for #COVID. Please note this increase also reflects a change in the way Quebec's public health institute has been compiling such hospitalizations. But make no mistake: Quebec is still facing a resurgence.
3) The United States is also facing a #COVID hospitalizations resurgence, with 20,000 new admissions per week, according to preeminent expert @EricTopol. In the U.S., the JN.1 variant is becoming dominant, with wastewater levels surging with SARS-CoV-2. See Topol's tweet below.
1) BREAKING: Jewish-owned businesses in Montreal are being targeted and vandalized with antisemitic profanity. Please click below to read my report.
via @mtlgazettemontrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) "Last weekend, they put swastikas on the … menus downtown and they wrote FUCK THE JEWS," a Jewish business owner told me. I have also seen a list of Jewish businesses that is circulating, provoking not only boycotts but vandalism.
3) The Gazette has decided not to publish these disturbing images, as the Jewish business owners are fearful of reprisals.