1) During the second wave, Quebec has rejected air purifiers in classrooms, claiming these devices could be dangerous in the #pandemic. In this thread, I will show how those Montreal schools that did install air cleaners have reported fewer outbreaks involving the variants. 
2) For this analysis, I’m indebted to the meticulous statistics compiled by Olivier Drouin of covidecolesquebec.org, who is a finalist for an international prize to be presented by DataHeroAwards.org. (Go vote for Olivier by clicking on this link: dataheroawards.org/tag/finalist-t… )
3) To date, a total of nine Montreal public schools have declared #COVID19 outbreaks involving suspected or presumptive variants, most likely the B.1.1.7 strain. Of the nine, seven schools do not have air purifiers, making them more vulnerable to #COVID19 contagion.
4) Two schools — Merton in Côte-St-Luc and Elizabeth Ballantyne in Montreal West — did install air purifiers, yet they ended up with #COVID19 cases involving the variants. This does not mean the air purifiers are ineffective, only that they’re not a miracle solution.
5) The English Montreal School and Lester B. Pearson boards went ahead and purchased air purifiers without Quebec's blessing. To my knowledge, no Lester B. Pearson school has yet reported an outbreak with variants, while two of the EMSB’s 29 schools with air purifiers did.
6) In contrast, no public French-language school overseen by the Education Ministry has been allowed air purifiers. Six of those Montreal schools have #COVID19 variant outbreaks. (The public English-language Dante School has a cluster, too, but it doesn’t have air purifiers.)
7) Clearly, this is far from an exhaustive analysis, nor is it a scientific one. But I submit that the preliminary data suggest that air purifiers are an effective tool in the arsenal against the more contagious variants at this perilous point in the #pandemic.
8) What’s more, the U.S. Centers for Disease control earlier this week recommended air purifiers for in-person learning in schools. Meanwhile on Saturday, the number of #COVID19 outbreaks in schools across Quebec rose by 11 to 247, the only sector to witness an increase.
9) Also Saturday, three more schools and a daycare in the greater Montreal region disclosed #COVID19 clusters of suspected or presumptive variant cases. It’s fair to assume once poorly ventilated schools reopen on Monday after the March break, such cases will rise. End of thread.
Addendum: The following charts are reproduced here, as I could not fit them into tonight’s thread. In the chart below, Montreal remains in a plateau of daily #COVID19 cases in the 300 range. Imagine what the numbers would be without B.1.1.7 on the rise in Montreal.
Addendum 2: At the neighborhood level, transmission of the #coronavirus — and likely B.1.1.7 — is once again surging in Montreal’s densely populated health district of Côte-des-Neiges, Parc-Extension and downtown. See the chart below.
Addendum 3: Finally, Montreal added four #COVID19 fatalities for a death toll of 4,536. For context only: the city of Paris is now reporting far more daily fatalities than Montreal amid the B.1.1.7 surge, but its official death toll stands at 3,303.
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