1) Seven weeks after Quebec allowed public gatherings of 250 people in the #pandemic despite physicians' objections, it took a massive #COVID19 resurgence to finally persuade the government Sunday to reverse that decision. In this thread, I'll suggest what more needs to be done.
2) Although authorities are now limiting most public gatherings to 50 people, going down to 25 in the newly-created orange zones of Montreal, Chaudière-Appalaches and part of the Capitale-Nationale, not a single restriction was imposed on schools.
3) Health Minister Christian Dubé even went so far as to frame as good news that extracurricular activities will be maintained after school. Yet a half hour later, Education Minister Jean-François Roberge announced the second school closing in the province because of #COVID19.
4) On Sunday night, at least 341 schools in the province have been impacted by the #pandemic, according to covidecolesquebec.org. In addition to Herzliah and Sans-Frontière schools that have shut, a Longueuil high school will close tomorrow for the day for massive testing.
5) In his news conference Sunday, the health minister announced new restrictions for bars and restaurants, and said more will come for the province’s seniors’ residences after a spate of #COVID19 outbreaks Saturday in those facilities in Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches.
6) Yet even though many parents, teachers and schools have pleaded with the government to require that students wear masks in class — and despite outbreaks in educational institutions that have resulted in closures — the government won’t impose this requirement, as Ontario has.
7) My analysis of data from the Montreal public health department indicates unequivocally that the two age groups that are reporting the sharpest percentage increases in positive #COVID19 results are elementary and high school students. So why not do something about this?
8) Outbreaks have flare up in at least seven schools in Montreal. They are not occurring in a vacuum. On Sunday, the metropolis posted 160 new #COVID19 cases. The city’s seven-day incidence rose to 56.52 cases per million population from 50.8 the day before.
9) At the neighborhood level, #COVID19 cases are spiking in communities with lots of crowded public schools: in Côte-des-Neiges, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Rosemont and Montreal East, as the chart below shows. Maintaining the status quo in those schools is not an option.
10) Given the rising community transmission of the #coronavirus, the easiest, cheapest and simplest thing that can be done to protect our children is to require that they wear masks in the classroom, at least for the next little while. End of thread and please stay safe everyone.
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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.
1) BREAKING: A month after Japan downgraded #COVID19 to the seasonal flu, the country is now beset with a 9th wave of infections. In this thread, I will explore the persistence of the #pandemic that everyone — especially politicians — wants to forget.
2) First, it's worth noting that the number of #COVID hospitalizations in the nation of 125 million rose to 4,330 from 4,122 a week before. The seven-day average for the number of patients in intensive care units was 79, according to the Japan Times.
3) It appears that XBB subtypes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are driving the latest wave of infections in Japan. Meanwhile, China has recorded a more than five-fold surge in the number of people diagnosed with COVID in hospitals since April. China is also bracing for another wave.