1) Quebec has now reached an unusual point in the pandemic — with spikes in #COVID19 cases being observed at opposite ends of the age spectrum, among schoolchildren and the elderly. In this thread, I will compare and contrast these two groups.
2) Let’s start with schoolchildren. Quebec reported a total of 404 #COVID19 outbreaks in schools on Tuesday, up by 21 from Monday. This represents the biggest increase by far in any setting. In fact, the number of outbreaks in the workplace dropped by 13 since Monday.
3) In its latest report, the Education Ministry identified 147 more active #COVID19 cases among students and staff in schools across Quebec, setting another record tally, 2,807. What’s more, the number of shuttered classes jumped by 187 to 1,037. See the chart below. 
4) A Laval elementary school is the latest educational institution to close temporarily following a #COVID19 outbreak. How many more will have to shut before authorities acknowledge what some experts have been warning — that schools have become breeding grounds for the virus?
5) The temptation is to compartmentalize outbreaks by setting, as if there were no transmission from one to the other. Officials have blamed parents infected in the workplace for unwittingly spreading the #coronavirus to children. But why can’t it also be the other way around?
6) Infections are also surging again among the elderly. A total of 1,339 people were afflicted with #COVID19 in eldercare homes on Tuesday, up by nearly 40 per cent or 382 cases from a week ago. Ten residents in a Joliette long-term care centre have died in a matter of days.
7) Indications point to a rising mortality rate in seniors’ residences and long-term care centres in regions outside Montreal — a nightmare scenario the Quebec government was hoping to avoid during the second wave. Why is this happening now?
8) Are asymptomatic health workers passing along the #coronavirus to the residents of these facilities? Are relatives visiting partly responsible? In an indirect domino effect, is the proliferation of outbreaks in so many settings, including schools, contributing to some extent?
9) On Tuesday, Premier François Legault announced the extension by two weeks of the partial lockdown. But beyond that extension, the government hasn’t proposed any new measures, even as the number of #COVID19 cases is climbing amid lower testing in the past two days.
10) Quebec added 38 #COVID fatalities to a death toll of 6,493. Tuesday’s mortality figures were the highest since the end of the first wave. These sobering developments call for more action by the government. Why not start with portable air purifiers in schools? End of thread.
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