1) As Quebec on Monday posted 51 more presumptive cases involving the more contagious #COVID19 variants, new projections warn the province could be hit with a third wave in March and April that's much higher than the previous two. 
2) Simon Fraser University researchers Elisha Are and Caroline Colijn wrote in a blog posting on Monday that most of Canada has been able to control #COVID19 recently, but they suggested that the B.1.1.7 variant (now spreading through Montreal) poses a much bigger problem.
3) Should B.1.1.7 become established, Quebec and five other provinces could be sideswiped by exponential growth in #COVID19 cases, with a doubling time of one to two weeks, compared to earlier doubling times of up to 40 days in Ontario. Please see the chart below for Quebec.
4) In their blog, Are and Colijn stress that “right now, vaccination (against #COVID19) is not going to impact transmission in the 6-to-8 week time frame” of the projections. Let’s hope they’re wrong, as vaccinations ramped up in Montreal on Monday.
5) While much of the news media coverage has focused on the hours-long waits that people in their 80s have had to endure, little attention has been paid to the fact that there is very little #PhysicalDistancing and that the ventilation is poor.
6) It would be unforgivable if people waiting in line to get vaccinated against #COVID19 contracted the #coronavirus because of slipshod infection control at the makeshift vaccination centres. Clearly, authorities need to improve this or agree to inoculating people in cars.
7) Nurses administered 2,265 first shots to Montrealers on Sunday, a relatively low tally after two days in the 5,000-range. But the numbers are expected to jump this week as authorities receive more supply and plan to inoculate people in their 70s.
8) Meanwhile, the number of #COVID19 hospitalizations inched up for the second day in a row in the metropolis. Sacré-Cœur, the Jewish General, St. Mary’s, the Royal Victoria and Fleury all reported modest increases in admissions. The Montreal total was 352.
9) Provincially, #COVID19 outbreaks rose by six to 78 on Monday in daycares, by six to 245 in schools and by one to 269 in the workplace. But clusters have fallen dramatically in eldercare homes and hospitals with a few exceptions.
10) In the last three days, the number of #COVID19 cases has dropped in Montreal, hinting at the end of a plateau. But with the B.1.1.7 variant circulating in the city, that may turn out to be nothing more than a mirage. End of thread. Please limit your social contacts.
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