1) Quebec set two more grim records Friday during the #pandemic's second wave: a single-day increase of 56 #COVID19 outbreaks (most of them in schools) and 53 more deaths. In this thread, I will ask why the government needs more time to decide on a "circuit-breaker" lockdown.
2) The province is now gripped by no fewer than 1,338 #COVID19 clusters in a wide range of settings. Nine more occurred in CHSLDs Friday, two more in daycares, 22 more in schools and 20 more in the workplace. See the chart below. 
3) Hospitalizations for the #pandemic illness rose by 23 to 871. Intensive care stays for #COVID19 climbed by 10 to 123. Remember, these hospitalizations are occurring amid a mass shortage of nurses and other medical professionals and a ramp down in elective surgeries.
4) I’ve been harping on this since the summer, and it’s now turned into a nightmare for many emergency-room staff. Quebec’s ERs as a whole have been overcrowded (above 100%) for eight of the past 10 days. In a #pandemic. See Friday's chart for Montreal below.
5) Meanwhile, Montreal’s rolling seven-day average inched up to nearly 26 cases per 100,000 residents on Friday. It’s worth recalling that public health experts at Harvard University recommend a lockdown when the rate crosses 25 cases per 100,000. See Montreal's chart below.
6) At the neighborhood level, the central health district of Côte-des-Neiges, downtown and Park Extension (where the #COVID19 testing positivity rate has hovered stubbornly at 15% for weeks) 83 more infections were confirmed Friday, no sign of things easing. See the chart below.
7) Earlier in this thread I noted the jump in outbreaks in schools. At present, there are 4,420 active #COVID19 cases among students and staff across the province, according to the Quebec Education Ministry. That’s another sombre record. See the chart below.
8) Montreal’s death toll in the #pandemic climbed to 3,700 on Friday, with a dozen more fatalities. That compares with 1,703 in Toronto and 2,567 in Paris. Please see Montreal’s chart below.
9) With #COVID deaths surging (158 since Sunday), the government could have heeded the advice of 75 experts to announce a circuit-breaker lockdown. But the Premier said he’d wait till Monday or Tuesday to make the announcement. Why wait till then? The End. twitter.com/intent/tweet?u…
Addendum: For those who are coming to this thread only now, please note I wrote an earlier thread tonight on a related subject. Have a safe weekend, everyone.
Here's the earlier thread tonight:
https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1337563184790638593
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