Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Sep 28, 2020 10 tweets 5 min read Read on X
1) The Résidence Herron nursing home, where staff deserted the elderly occupants early in the #pandemic last March, went into lockdown again Sunday after an employee tested positive for #COVID19. In this thread, I will examine the impact of the second wave on eldercare centres.
2) Unlike last March, the Herron now has a full complement of staff. None of the residents has tested positive for the #coronavirus, but all are back in their rooms as a precaution. Still, #COVID19 outbreaks have flared up in 18 other eldercare homes in the province.
3) In the past 24 hours alone, a total of two dozen residents of long-term care centres and seniors’ residents have contracted #COVID19 across Quebec: in Laval, Pointe-Claire, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Jérôme, Brossard, La Tuque and in the Gaspé.
4) Small #COVID19 outbreaks are also erupting again in hospitals, too: at the Lakeshore General in Pointe-Claire, at Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement in Quebec City, at the Centre hospitalier régional du Grand-Portage in Rivière-du-Loup and at Hôpital de Granby last week.
5) In contrast with the first wave when schools were locked down, the virus is now spreading in them — with limited precautions in place. Nearly 17% of Quebec’s schools now have at least one student or employee who has tested positive, according to covidecolesquebec.org.
6) Meanwhile, Montreal posted a staggering 375 #COVID19 cases Sunday, up from 272 the day before. The last time the metropolis reported a single-day tally that was higher was in mid-May, just after the peak of the first wave. See the rising orange line in the chart below.
7) Montreal’s rolling seven-day average rose to 113.04 cases per million population from 98.13 the day before. Crossing the 100-case daily threshold means the city could be declared a red zone, but the government has decided to use additional criteria before making that call.
8) At the neighborhood level, the chart below shows that the centre of the city, Montreal North and the east end continue to drive community transmission of the #coronavirus. People in these areas are working-class and can’t afford to stay home.
9) More than six months after the World Health Organization declared #COVID19 a pandemic, 5,825 Quebecers have lost their lives to date. Nearly 72,000 Quebecers have contracted the disease, with many suffering from lingering and debilitating complications.
10) So here we are: Less than three months after the last wave ended, Quebec has now been jolted into a second one, perhaps a year before a vaccine can be widely distributed to Quebecers. Please keep that in mind as you practice #PhysicalDistancing and wear a mask. End of thread.

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More from @Aaron_Derfel

Mar 13
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. Image
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." Image
Read 9 tweets
Jan 5
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. Image
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.
Read 10 tweets
Dec 17, 2023
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. Image
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. Image
Read 14 tweets
Dec 6, 2023
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
Read 10 tweets
Nov 13, 2023
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.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 16, 2023
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. Image
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. Image
Read 7 tweets

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