1) Although authorities have begun giving #COVID19 shots to hundreds of people in regions outside Quebec City and Montreal, the second wave intensified Wednesday, outpacing the vaccination effort. In this thread, I will focus on the immense challenges ahead.
2) Aside the from #pandemic itself, the biggest challenge is shoring up Quebec’s health-care system, which is on the verge of collapse. The province reported the highest number of #COVID19 hospitalizations in the second wave Wednesday, 1,067, up by a dozen since the day before. 
3) What’s more, an outbreak has forced the Montreal Neurological Hospital to close its intensive care unit, according to the @mtlgazette. And CTV News is reporting that adult patients are being treated at the Montreal Children’s Hospital to free up beds for those with #COVID19.
4) Meanwhile, a growing number of fatigued health-care workers are contracting the #coronavirus amid a massive shortage of nurses. As I wrote about Tuesday, staff at the Lakeshore General Hospital have been ordered to work 12-hour shifts, even on statutory holidays.
5) Hospitals have also reduced elective operations even though there’s a backlog of nearly 131,000 surgeries. It’s in this context of an exhausted health-care system and rampant ER overcrowding that the vaccination effort is unfolding as the second wave swells.
6) In the meantime, Montreal posted 799 #COVID19 cases Wednesday. Experts are warning that the latest surge will translate into more hospitalizations in 10 days from now. The city’s seven-day average was at its highest, 34.54 infections per 100,000 residents. See the chart below.
7) At the neighborhood level, there’s been no sign of an easing of community transmission of the #coronavirus. The chart below shows that the health district of Rivière-des-Prairies, Anjou and Montreal East identified nearly 100 new #COVID19 cases on Wednesday. See below.
8) The number of active #COVID19 cases across the province inched up by 572 to 19,381. But what’s also noteworthy is that for the second day in a row, the total number of outbreaks in Quebec has declined, now standing at 1,606.
9) Still, the number of #COVID19 clusters in daycares rose by six to 108 Wednesday. This increases follows revelations — first disclosed in a sub-thread to this Twitter feed — that Quebec daycare workers were issued substandard masks for months. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
10) Finally, Montreal added another two dozen #COVID19 fatalities — the biggest single-day increase by far in the second wave — to a death toll of 3,788. Provincially, the toll increased by 73. End of thread. Please avoid multi-family gatherings during the holidays and stay safe.
Addendum: Thanks to Mr. Savage, @fauchonmathieu, for his scoop on the substandard masks in daycares, and his contributions to this daily thread.
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