1) Quebec declared for the first time Wednesday it has one case of the P.1 variant that’s been sweeping through Brazil, and revealed the number of cases of the B.1.351 strain from South Africa jumped by 54 to 94 in Abitibi-Temiscamingue. Please see below. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) Quebec may now be at another turning point in the #pandemic, with confirmation of the three variants of concern, as well as a strain from California. Still, it’s too early to tellwhether Wednesday’s uptick in #COVID19 cases and hospitalizations are due to the variants. 
3) What we do know, though, is that the B.1.1.7 variant now comprises 20% of new #COVID19 cases in Montreal, up from about 15% since last week. And this increase has coincided with a rise in the number of outbreaks in the workplace. Please see the chart below.
4) Meanwhile, Montreal’s rolling seven-day average of #COVID19 cases inched up to 17.92 cases per 100,000 residents from 15.5 the day before. Given the presence of B.1.1.7 in the metropolis, it’s hard to tell whether cases have plateaued. See the chart below.
5) During the first and second waves in the #pandemic, #COVID19 did cause outbreaks in some hospital emergency rooms in Montreal. This time around, ER overcrowding is worse, and the variants are on the loose. Please take a look at the chart below.
6) What’s also different this time around are the vaccines. To date, 214,000 Montrealers, or more than 10% per cent of the city's population, have been inoculated with mostly first shots. Experts have suggested at least 70% vaccine coverage to achieve collective immunity.
7) So it really is a race of the vaccines against the variants. Under such circumstances, Montreal deserves every tool in its arsenal to fight the #pandemic. Again, I cannot understand why Quebec won't approve the installation of air purifiers in poorly ventilated classrooms.
8) To conclude, Montreal added three more #COVID19 fatalities to a death toll of 4,553. For context only: the city of Paris (where the variants are surging) is now reporting more daily #pandemic deaths than Montreal, posting 11 more Wednesday for a total of 3,343. End of thread.
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