1) As Quebec plans to ease #pandemic restrictions Friday for the coming March break, it’s worth noting what some European countries that were hit with the B.1.1.7 variant much earlier than here are now doing, while the same strain spreads in Montreal.
2) In France, Prime Minister Jean Castex warned on Thursday of increased measures to fight the proliferation of B.1.1.7 in 20 regions, including Paris, following Wednesday’s count of 30,000 new #COVID19 infections.
3) The Czech Republic declared it will tighten its lockdown, including a ban on travel between counties for the next three weeks. Daycares and elementary schools will close on Monday. The government may send some Czech #COVID19 patients to Germany for treatment.
4) Portugal’s parliament has approved a request from the country’s president to renew its state of emergency by another two weeks. Portugal’s seven-day #COVID19 case rate per 100,000 inhabitants stands at 13, compared with a rate of 9 per 100,000 in Quebec.
5) Denmark has announced plans to allow shops and some schools to reopen in March after introducing a lockdown in December. Denmark’s prime minister has acknowledged the reopening plan is a “calculated risk” that could lead to more #COVID19 hospitalizations. 
6) Meanwhile, Quebec on Thursday posted its biggest single-day increase to date in presumptive #COVID19 cases involving variants, most likely B.1.1.7. The number of such cases soared by 170 to 772. Confirmed variants jumped by 11 to 34. Please see the chart below.
7) In the absence of detailed data on variants from the government, it’s been left up to a volunteer website, covidecolesquebec.org, to provide such stats on the impact of B.1.1.7 on schools. As of 8 p.m. Thursday, four more schools reported suspected variant cases. See below.
8) The Quebec health ministry did not release updated data on #COVID19 outbreaks by sector Thursday, so it’s hard to know whether the B.1.1.7 contagion is accelerating or slowing down in schools However, the number of #COVID19 hospitalizations in Montreal dropped by 16 to 358.
9) Health Minister Christian Dubé appeared upbeat for the first time in weeks on Thursday following the registration of more than 100,000 #COVID19 vaccination appointments for Quebecers at least 85 years old. Quebec expects 700,000 doses from the federal government by March 31.
10) But at the same time, Dubé warned “we see the risks with March break and the risk with the variants.” So this is where things stand in Quebec, on the eve of the March break. If only we had the benefit of hindsight. End of thread. Please, please limit your social contacts.
Addendum: The following charts could not fit into tonight’s thread, so they’re being released here. Ontario, which is tracking the variants more closely than Quebec, is reporting an increased positivity rate in the past few days. See below.
Addendum 2: The return of emergency-room overcrowding in Quebec is now coinciding with the spread of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant. An ER nurse spoke to me of even lower morale. Please take a look at the chart below.
Addendum 3: After declining cases for a few weeks, the centre health district of Côte-des-Neiges, downtown and Parc-Extension reported an uptick in #COVID19 infections in the past couple of days. Please review the chart below.
Addendum 4: The plateauing of #COVID19 cases appears to be continuing in Montreal. The city posted 384 on Thursday. See below.
Addendum 5: Stubbornly, however, the number of #COVID19 deaths in Montreal did not decline on Thursday, as one would have liked. The city’s #pandemic death toll stands at 4,495. For context only: the city proper of Paris reported a total of 3,187 such fatalities on the same day.
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