Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Dec 8, 2022 12 tweets 7 min read Read on X
1) Breaking: #COVID hospitalizations in Quebec have now risen to their highest point in nearly two months, as the province reported on Thursday a total of 1,981 people admitted to hospital for and with the #pandemic illness. Image
2) What's more, the number of health-care workers absent due to #COVID has climbed back above 4,100, the highest total since August. But back in August, Quebec was not also in the grip of a flu epidemic that may turn out to be the most severe in a decade. Image
3) This #Syndemic of #COVID and influenza has also resulted in a growing number of school teachers booking off sick. This prompted the Lester B. Pearson School Board to urge mask-wearing in class to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.
montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
4) The Health Ministry acknowledges the importance of wearing a mask in public to limit the transmission of respiratory viruses in this unprecedented #Syndemic, posting this message below on its Twitter feed. However, the government has stopped short of making this mandatory. Image
5) Without the mask mandate, many Quebecers are choosing to shop for holiday gifts without a face covering on, as the Journal de Québec reported on Dec. 4 after a reporter visited and observed consumers in a dozen malls and big box stores. Image
6) Of course, a mask mandate is not a miracle solution. It would be one of several measures to fight the #Syndemic, including vaccination. On that score, since mid-August, 27% of the adult Quebec population has received a bivalent booster to guard against #Omicron subvariants. Image
7) Meanwhile, Montreal's emergency rooms are still overwhelmingly overcrowded despite the "crisis cell" Health Minister Christian Dubé set up last month. The chart below shows 327 ER patients on stretchers being treated in hallways without any privacy, some for at least 48 hours. Image
8) It bears repeating the definition of a #Syndemic, which is the reality now in Quebec. It's an "aggregation of two or more concurrent or sequential epidemics or disease clusters in a population with biological interactions, which exacerbate the prognosis and burden of disease."
9) To recap, flu infections in Quebec have soared by nearly 59% in a week. #COVID hospitalizations are at their highest point in nearly two months as the BQ.1.1. #Omicron variant (with "marked immune evasive properties") becomes predominant in the province.
10) This means more co-infections of #COVID and the flu, which is what infectious diseases experts had feared might happen eventually and which scientific studies have been observing. Under such circumstances, please go get your booster and mask up in public. End of thread.
ADDENDUM: Since it's all the rage, I asked ChatGPT when the #COVID19 pandemic will end. Its response? Some experts believe it could end within the next few years! Ultimately, all depends on the collective efforts of individuals and governments. Collective efforts! See below.👇 Image
ADDENDUM 2: As the tweet below by ace French journalist @nicolasberrod reveals, France's 9th #COVID wave has now surpassed its 8th in terms of critical-care admissions. Evidently, this is something for Quebec to watch.

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More from @Aaron_Derfel

Mar 13
1) On Tuesday, the Quebec government unveiled its 2024-2025 budget, with the biggest expenditure to be made on health and social services. In this Twitter thread, I assess whether this "Health/Education Priorities" budget lives up to its hype, especially when it comes to seniors.
2) As you can see from the chart below, the lion's share of spending in the budget is for health and social services, pegged at $61.9 billion — up by 4.17% from the year before. In contrast, spending on education — so vital to Quebec's future — will rise 9.35% to $22.3 billion. Image
3) But as far as health and social services is concerned, Tuesday's budget may be indulging in a bit of spin. The chart below states that Quebec will spend an extra $3.7 billion over the next five years to "support a humane and effective organization of health care." Image
Read 9 tweets
Jan 5
1) "The pandemic is far from over," one of the preeminent experts on #COVID19, Dr. Eric Topol, declared today, Jan. 4, 2024 — three years after the world first learned of a novel virus that was killing people in China. In this thread, I take stock of what's going on in Quebec.
2) "The pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by the rapid rise to global dominance of the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2," Topol noted in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. In Quebec, nearly one in two genetic samples collected was from JN.1 as of two weeks ago. It's likely higher now. Image
3) "Clearly this virus variant, with its plethora of new mutations, has continued its evolution ... for infecting or reinfecting us," Topol added. Although the updated booster is considered 60% protective against hospitalization, only 17% of the Quebec population has taken it.
Read 10 tweets
Dec 17, 2023
1) BREAKING: By every major indicator, Quebec's health-care system is now arguably the worst it's ever been. Please click on my story below on Quebec wait lists for cancer and other surgery setting record highs — again. via @mtlgazettemontrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) Although Quebec has made it a priority to tackle wait lists for cancer surgery, more than 4,400 oncology patients are still waiting for their operations. More than 600 are waiting longer than the medically acceptable delay of 57 days, potentially putting their health at risk. Image
3) Even the wait list for so-called non-urgent surgery has now swelled to nearly 164,000 people. Almost 14,000 Quebecers today have been waiting more than a year for their surgery. At a year's wait, a non-urgent surgery starts to become urgent. Image
Read 14 tweets
Dec 6, 2023
1) BREAKING: Quebec, like other jurisdictions across North America, is now in the midst of a new #COVID19 resurgence — nearly 4 years into the #pandemic. In this thread, I will assess the implications of this latest wave of infections, likely driven by a new SARS-CoV-2 variant. Image
2) On Dec. 5, Quebec declared a total of 2,214 hospitalizations with and for #COVID. Please note this increase also reflects a change in the way Quebec's public health institute has been compiling such hospitalizations. But make no mistake: Quebec is still facing a resurgence. Image
3) The United States is also facing a #COVID hospitalizations resurgence, with 20,000 new admissions per week, according to preeminent expert @EricTopol. In the U.S., the JN.1 variant is becoming dominant, with wastewater levels surging with SARS-CoV-2. See Topol's tweet below. Image
Read 10 tweets
Nov 13, 2023
1) BREAKING: Jewish-owned businesses in Montreal are being targeted and vandalized with antisemitic profanity. Please click below to read my report.
via @mtlgazettemontrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) "Last weekend, they put swastikas on the … menus downtown and they wrote FUCK THE JEWS," a Jewish business owner told me. I have also seen a list of Jewish businesses that is circulating, provoking not only boycotts but vandalism.
3) The Gazette has decided not to publish these disturbing images, as the Jewish business owners are fearful of reprisals.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 16, 2023
1) BREAKING: A month after Japan downgraded #COVID19 to the seasonal flu, the country is now beset with a 9th wave of infections. In this thread, I will explore the persistence of the #pandemic that everyone — especially politicians — wants to forget. Image
2) First, it's worth noting that the number of #COVID hospitalizations in the nation of 125 million rose to 4,330 from 4,122 a week before. The seven-day average for the number of patients in intensive care units was 79, according to the Japan Times.
3) It appears that XBB subtypes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are driving the latest wave of infections in Japan. Meanwhile, China has recorded a more than five-fold surge in the number of people diagnosed with COVID in hospitals since April. China is also bracing for another wave. Image
Read 7 tweets

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