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Aaron Derfel

28 Feb, 9 tweets, 6 min read

1) Covidecolesquebec.org on Saturday recorded the 30th school to date with suspected or presumptive #COVID19 variants. That news coincided with revelations of an uptick in cases in the greater Montreal region of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children.

2) The rise in cases of the rare pediatric syndrome at the Montreal Children’s and Sainte-Justine hospitals started before January’s emergence of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant, and challenges the myth that #COVID19 is harmless in children. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…

3) Meanwhile, Premier François Legault exhorted Quebecers on Saturday to avoid private gatherings during the March break, warning of the presence of B.1.1.7, which originated in the U.K. in December and is now responsible for a surge in cases throughout Europe.

4) Legault made the statement at the same time as Quebec posted an increase of 110 presumptive #COVID19 cases involving variants, most likely B.1.1.7. The total number of such cases has jumped from 23 on Feb. 10 to 984 on Saturday.

5) A record of more than 5,500 Montrealers in their 80s were vaccinated on Friday against #COVID19 on Saturday, raising hopes that widespread inoculation will ultimately put an end to the #pandemic that has to date killed 10,385 people in the province.

6) Public health authorities are also heartened by the steady drop in #COVID19 hospitalizations, with Montreal reporting 341 on Saturday, down from 356 the day before. But emergency-room overcrowding remains a problem in the #pandemic.

7) Outbreaks in nearly all sectors are also on the decline across the province, except in schools, which reported a total of 244, up by six. However, that number should drop because of the March break, leading to perhaps a false sense of security among some people.

8) Despite the presence of B.1.1.7 in Montreal, transmission of the #coronavirus is trending down at the neighborhood level. In the chart below, no health district posted #COVID19 cases above a hundred for the past couple of days.

9) But for those who are so confident that the #pandemic may be nearing its end soon, just look at the situation at the CHSLD Lionel-Émond in the Outaouais, which posted six more #COVID19 cases in the past 24 hours in a new outbreak that has infected 37 residents. End of thread.

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More from @Aaron_Derfel

Aaron Derfel

@Aaron_Derfel

28 Feb

1) Quebec on Sunday confirmed that the more contagious #COVID19 variants are indeed spreading across the province. This news comes amid a second outbreak in an eldercare home and an uptick in #pandemic hospitalizations in Montreal.

2) In the chart below, Quebec’s public health institute confirmed another 103 variant cases for a total of 137. Most involve the B.1.1.7 variant in Montreal. Six more were found in Laval and two in Lanaudière. B.1.1.7, originating in the U.K., is considered 50% more contagious.

3) Authorities also confirmed through genetic sequencing 38 more cases of the B.1.351 variant which first appeared in South Africa. Quebec now has far more cases of the B.1.351 variant than any another province in Canada.

Read 10 tweets

Aaron Derfel

@Aaron_Derfel

27 Feb

1) Quebec on Friday posted 102 more presumptive #COVID19 cases involving the more transmissible variants. But there are still many stats about the variants that Quebec has not yet made public, unlike in neighboring Ontario. In this thread, I will highlight those information gaps.

2) The first gap to highlight is the fact that Ontario has to date reported a cumulative total of 2,099 presumptive #COVID19 variant cases, 140% higher than Quebec’s tally of 874. This suggests that Ontario is screening for the variants a lot more than Quebec.

3) But it’s impossible to confirm that Ontario is, in fact, screening more for the variants, because Quebec is not releasing the data on the total number of positive tests that have undergone “criblage.” In Ontario, the figure for screened tests is 18,125.

Read 14 tweets

Aaron Derfel

@Aaron_Derfel

26 Feb

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.

Read 15 tweets

Aaron Derfel

@Aaron_Derfel

25 Feb

1) The more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant now appears to be circulating widely in Montreal, the latest data by the public health department suggest. The variant been responsible for at least 22 #COVID19 outbreaks in Montreal since January, mainly in schools and daycare centres.

2) And since last week, the number of #COVID19 outbreaks in schools has jumped by 19 to 117 in the city, with nearly 600 positive cases. In fact, the contagion in schools stands out because clusters have been dropping in nearly every other sector. See the chart below.

3) And three more Montreal schools — Antoine-de-Saint-Exupery, Adélard-Desrosier and Beth Jacob de Rev Hirschsprung — reported four more suspected cases on Wednesday involving the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the U.K. in December, according to covidecolesquebec.org.

Read 14 tweets

Aaron Derfel

@Aaron_Derfel

23 Feb

1) One in ten positive #COVID tests is now screening for the more transmissible variants in Quebec — a situation that worries public health officials and Premier François Legault, who acknowledged that next week’s March break will be a “big test” in the #pandemic.

2) On Tuesday, the number of presumptive #COVID19 variant cases jumped by 69 to 484. Recall that less than two week ago, on Feb. 10, Quebec reported just 23 presumptive cases involving the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants.

3) Ontario, by comparison, has posted a cumulative total of 1,527 presumptive variant cases — that is positive test results with the N501Y gene mutation of the sticky spike protein on the #coronavirus. All three major variants, including P.1, share that mutation.

Read 13 tweets

Aaron Derfel

@Aaron_Derfel

23 Feb

1) On Feb. 10, Quebec’s top health officer disclosed two confirmed #COVID19 cases of the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa. On Monday, an Abitibi-Témiscamingue official revealed 40 presumptive B.1.351 cases. Why did authorities not release this information sooner?

2) Dr. Horacio Arruda said at the time the B.1.351 cases were associated with two “well-controlled” outbreaks. Arruda spoke more about the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the U.K. in December and that is now circulating in Montreal. But he hardly mentioned B.1.351. Why not?

3) At a Monday afternoon news conference in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, public health doctor Omobola Sobanjo disclosed that 20 presumptive B.1.351 cases came from an outbreak following a party after the holidays, and 13 from a school cluster.

Read 14 tweets

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