1) Quebec on Saturday reported a spike of 72 #COVID19 outbreaks in the workplace over the past two days as the #pandemic’s second wave showed no signs of easing. In this thread, I will focus on the sources of these latest clusters of cases. 
2) A study by Quebec’s public health institute has found that as of Dec. 12 (the most recent period available) most workplace #COVID19 outbreaks were occurring in the commercial sector, most notably in grocery stores. See the chart below.
3) The sector that came in second place for #COVID19 outbreaks was manufacturing, especially in food processing, followed by construction. Government inspectors have witnessed lax infection control in the construction industry.
4) Essential businesses like supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware stores and dépanneurs will remain open over the holidays during Quebec’s latest lockdown. The #COVID19 outbreaks erupting in these businesses suggest inspectors need to redouble their efforts at infection control.
5) Outbreaks in the workplace and in health-care institutions are fueling the rise in #COVID19 cases across Quebec, with the province on Saturday posting its highest number in the second wave, 2038, according to the Health Ministry.
6) For the third day in a row, Quebec recorded a total of more than 1,000 #COVID19 hospitalizations (1,005), of which 142 are ICU stays. This is taking place amid depleted nursing and other staff shortages. See the chart below.
7) A hospital worker wrote to me Saturday describing the poor morale among nurses: “It is so incredibly discouraging to work in an environment where the staffing is just so poor, where managers did not listen and did not prepare for the second wave and where we get no support.”
8) “At least, in the first wave, we got things like free parking, free meals, and Gatorade during the shift,” the worker added. “Now, we get nothing.” About 10,000 health care workers across Quebec contracted #COVID19 in just the past two months alone.
9) Meanwhile, Montreal posted 625 #COVID19 cases Saturday, up from 609 the day before. (See the chart below.) The city’s seven-day rolling average was 29.54 cases per 100,000 residents, the 9th straight day it’s been above a rate of 25 cases, considered the lockdown threshold.
10) At the neighborhood level, the West Island surprisingly posted the greatest number of new #COVID19 cases in Montreal, 85. But community transmission of the #coronavirus also remains high in the north and west ends of the city. Please take a look at the chart below.
11) On the vaccine front, Quebec has so far given the first of two required #COVID19 shots to 4,020 people. In the province’s epicenter, Montreal, 1,531 people have received shots, and in the hot spot of the Capitale-Nationale, 2,489. The booster shots will come in three weeks.
12) Quebec added 44 more #COVID19 fatalities to a death toll of 7,715. Montreal, for its part, declared eight of those deaths. The city’s death toll now stands at 3,749, compared with 2,599 in Paris. Please, everyone, stay safe. End of thread.
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