Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Feb 4 12 tweets 4 min read
Alors que nous entrons dans la troisième année de la crise sanitaire, il est devenu évident que certains mots ou expressions ne sont plus utilisés au Québec pour parler de la pandémie. Dans cette enfilade pas si sérieuse, je discuterai de ces mots oubliés.
J'ai décidé de choisir des mots ou des expressions en français uniquement parce que, 1) je vis et travaille au Québec et 2), ces termes semblent plus colorés, même poétiques, dans la langue de Molière.
Je voudrais remercier tous ceux qui ont contribué à cette enfilade psycholinguistique avec leurs suggestions. Je me concentre sur les expressions ou les mots discontinus, pas sur ceux encore utilisés que nous détestons, comme « la lumière au bout du tunnel. »
Alors sans plus tarder, voici ma liste des huit meilleurs. Numéro huit : « aplatir la courbe. » Franchement, après cinq vagues au Québec, cette expression est devenue complètement inutile. Est-ce que quelqu'un sait plus ce que cela signifie?
Numéro sept : « Nettoyez toutes les surfaces. » C'était le conseil donné très tôt dans la pandémie. Même le Dr Sanjay Gupta du CNN nous montrait comment laver nos épiceries. Voici ma confession : je n'ai jamais lavé mes épiceries.
Numéro six : « distanciation sociale. » Les autorités nous ont exhortés à le faire constamment dans les deux premières vagues. Certains d'entre nous peuvent encore le faire, mais utilisons-nous toujours cette expression ? J'en doute.
Numéro cinq : « Tartelettes portugaises. » Tout le monde sait que c'est le désert préféré du Dr Arruda, mais le bon docteur n'est plus le chef de la santé publique et personne ne parle plus de cette friandise dans le contexte de la pandémie.
Numéro quatre : « Défi 28 jours. » C'est le ministre de la Santé Christian Dubé qui a prononcé ces mots d'espoir en septembre 2020 en réponse à une suggestion d'un journaliste. Mais 700 jours plus tard, le défi est devenu un fardeau insupportable pour de nombreuses personnes.
Numéro trois : « Graduellement. » Je ne me souviens pas du nombre de fois que le premier ministre François Legault a prononcé ce mot, mais quand il l'a fait, il l'a prononcé très lentement. Il l'a depuis remplacé par «mollo. »
Numéro deux : « Les infirmières sont nos anges gardiens. » Si tel est le cas, pourquoi certaines infirmières attendent-elles toujours d'être payées des milliers de dollars par le gouvernement provincial?
Et enfin, numéro un : "Ça va bien aller." Cette expression, avec son arc-en-ciel qui l'accompagne, est rapidement tombée en disgrâce après la tragédie de la Résidence Herron. Fin d'enfilade.
12) Addendum: There's one expression in English that the people of Ontario are not using much these days, either: "Iron Ring," which now has a hollow ring to it after the deaths of so many in long-term care.

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More from @Aaron_Derfel

Feb 6
1) Two years into the #pandemic, something odd is now occurring worldwide in the #COVID19 crisis, with the number of global deaths surging while cases seem to be falling. This has not happened quite this way previously. In this thread, I will try to explain why this is occurring. Image
2) During the first wave of the pandemic in the winter of 2020, #COVID testing wasn't widely conducted around the world. The best indicator at the time was the number of deaths, which quickly skyrocketed. Please see the chart below comparing global cases with deaths at that time. Image
3) But later on, as countries around the world started testing for #COVID intensively, another pattern emerged. Deaths started to track more closely with the number of new cases, with declared deaths appearing a few weeks after infections were recorded. See an example below. Image
Read 14 tweets
Feb 5
1) Japan — generally lauded for its response to the #COVID crisis — is now in the grip of what it’s calling a 6th wave in the #pandemic. To be blunt, what the hell is now going wrong in Japan and what lessons can Québec draw from the Land of the Rising Sun? Image
2) As you can glimpse from the chart below, #COVID hospitalizations in Canada are now in decline, while they are climbing in Japan. Toyko’s metropolitan government has ordered hospitals to boost the number of emergency beds to accept patients at night. Image
3) In an alarming development reminiscent of what Quebec has been going through, the Japanese government is considering whether it should send low-risk #COVID patients back home to “prevent medical facilities from being overwhelmed.” Image
Read 9 tweets
Feb 4
1) Nearly two weeks after posting the highest rate of #COVID deaths per million population among industrialized nations, Quebec has ceded the top spot back to the United States, as U.S. booster vaccination has stagnated. But this is beginning to happen in Quebec, too. Image
2) Quebec’s booster vaccination program was problematic from the start, as authorities were slow to give a 3rd dose to elderly Quebecers living in their homes. The chart below shows that this tardy decision is likely responsible for the second highest death wave in the #pandemic. Image
3) But as flawed as Quebec’s booster campaign has been, the situation in the United States has proved even worse. At the same time, more and more U.S. states have been lifting #pandemic restrictions, resulting in #COVID deaths creeping up. Please take a look at the chart below. Image
Read 8 tweets
Feb 3
1) Dr. Jordan Peterson (@jordanbpeterson), one of Canada’s preeminent intellectuals, cited a meta-analysis on Tuesday concluding that the average #COVID lockdown resulted in only a 0.2% reduction in mortality in Europe and in the U.S. Is that really true?
2) Given Peterson’s huge audience and his commitment to scientific rigour, it is worth stress-testing this meta-analysis that has appeared in Studies in Applied Economics. That would be part of the scientific method of open and fact-based debate.
3) It’s in that scientific tradition that I would like to report the reaction of various British scientists to this meta-analysis. Courtesy of sciencemediacentre.org, this is what Neil Ferguson, director of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, had to say:
Read 10 tweets
Feb 2
1) Quebec’s new chief of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, asserted on Wednesday he believes the province’s severely weakened health system could handle a potential influx of long #COVID patients. In this thread, I will examine whether this assertion stands up to closer scrutiny.
2) This is what Boileau said in response to a sharply focused question by the @mtlgazette’s @JesseFeith: “I think we are. I think it’s going to be a challenge. I think the more they are vaccinated, in particular with the 3rd dose, the less they are at risk to develop long COVID.”
3) Dr. Boileau may have confidence in Quebec’s health-care system, but it’s been years since he managed the Montérégie health authority. The system today is in much worse shape than when Boileau ran hospitals and clinics on the South Shore 13 years ago.
Read 15 tweets
Feb 2
1) At least two countries in the Northern Hemisphere – Ireland and Denmark – have started lifting #pandemic restrictions despite the more contagious #Omicron variant and the fact deaths are still rising in the latter. In this thread, I will examine the risks of lockdown fatigue.
2) First, though, let us focus on Quebec's latest #COVID death wave, which is stubbornly resisting to subside. In fact, the current wave has surpassed the wave last January, when Quebec still had a curfew in effect at this point in 2021. Please take a look at the chart below.
3) The Quebec government is wary to discuss this, but I submit it must be held accountable on this score. Most deaths are now occurring among Quebecers who were at least 70, who had been living at home, many of whom did not get their booster doses in time.
Read 12 tweets

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