1) As #COVID19 continued to subside in hospitals and in the workplace across Quebec Monday, it nonetheless surged in schools, raising questions as to whether the government intends to beef up its plans to curb transmission of the #coronavirus in classrooms.
2) On Friday, the Quebec Education Ministry reported that five schools had to close temporarily because of #COVID19 outbreaks, up by two from the day before. Over the weekend and into Monday, another four schools had to shut, three in Montreal and one in Longueuil.
3) What’s more, the Education Ministry revealed that schools had to shutter another 101 classrooms Friday due to #COVID19 exposure, bringing the total to 1,008. In addition, there were 2,662 active cases among students and staff, up by 193 in a day. Please see the chart below. 
4) This is a pronounced trend, unlike any other sector with the exception perhaps of daycares. A week ago, three schools were closed because of #COVID19 outbreaks, not as many as nine on Monday. In a week’s time, nearly 300 more classrooms were shuttered.
5) Meanwhile, Montreal posted its lowest daily number of #COVID19 cases, 373, since Dec. 1 (301). As I predicted, the city’s seven-day average dropped Monday below Harvard University’s stay-at-home threshold of 25 cases per 100,000 residents, with a rate of 24.47. See below.
6) This likely reflects the curfew and closing of non-essential businesses rather than the effectiveness of the first shots of the #COVID19 vaccines administered to mostly elderly residents of long-term care centres, as I wrote about in a thread yesterday.
https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1355964623401480196
7) Provincially, #COVID19 hospitalizations crept up by eight to 1,144 after days of decreases. In Montreal, the Health Ministry reported 543 hospitalizations Monday, up by one. Four of the city's 17 hospitals posted increases in admissions, including four at the Jewish General.
8) A #COVID19 outbreak has flared up at a private seniors’ residence in Lanaudière, the Phare de la paix, with 13 infections declared within 24 hours. But provincially, the total number of cases in eldercare homes dipped by nine to 1,436.
9) Montreal’s Bordeaux jail is once again battling a #COVID19 outbreak, with a dozen active cases, according to the Quebec Health Ministry. In the meantime, authorities vaccinated another 796 workers and residents in private seniors’ homes.
10) On Tuesday, Premier François Legault is to announce an easing of restrictions in retails stores, a move that will likely lead to a rise in transmission of the #coronavirus. The question is whether he will also announce some more protective measures for schools. End of thread.
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