1) In the past two weeks, the number of Quebec classrooms that have closed due to #COVID19 exposure has soared by 70%. Yet Premier François Legault has ruled out reducing class sizes. In this thread, I will examine the #pandemic’s impact on the educational system thus far.
2) The number of shuttered classes climbed to 1,075 on Oct.13 from 631 on Sept. 30. The number of active #COVID19 cases among school employees jumped to 336 from 187 — an increase of nearly 80%. The number of active cases among students rose to 1,684 from 1,050 (up by 60%). 
3) Clearly, the #pandemic is straining the resources of the educational system. The government has not released data on the number of schools that have closed, but in Montreal in the past few days two private high schools have shut down for two weeks following #COVID19 outbreaks.
4) Authorities don’t fully know the extent of the contagion in schools because they are not systematically testing students as Germany has done. Obviously, there are no easy solutions to the crisis in the educational system, but the status quo apparently isn’t working, either.
5) Meanwhile, Montreal posted its lowest daily increase of #COVID19 cases (189) in more than three weeks. This would suggest that the second wave may have peaked in the metropolis, but it would be premature to draw this conclusion because testing has dropped off in the past week.
6) The #COVID19 record is a mixed one across the city. For example, the number of hospitalizations at the McGill University Health Centre appears to have declined this week, but emergency room admissions are once again picking up. (Please see the chart below.)
7) An increase in #COVID19 ER admissions could not come at a worse time. The chart below shows that more than a dozen ERs in Montreal were on red alert Wednesday night because of overcrowding in a city that's in a #pandemic red zone. Hospitals in general are on high alert.
8) At the neighborhood level, the #COVID19 spike seems to have leveled off in Outremont, according to the latest community-transmission chart released by the Montreal public health department Wednesday. But infections are surging once again in the west end as well as downtown.
9) Montreal has also been witnessing an uptick in #COVID19 fatalities in the past week, with three added Wednesday to a death toll which now stands at 3,498, greater than those of Denmark (675) and Finland (204) combined, but not Sweden’s (5,907). See the chart below.
10) These trends suggest the city and province must remain vigilant, with #pandemic measures in place, for months to come until a #COVID19 vaccine becomes widely available. Sadly, students and teachers will likely have to cope with restrictions for months to come. End of thread.
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