Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Dec 8 12 tweets 7 min read
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

Sep 25
1) Le Parti libéral du Québec a pris position formellement dimanche matin sur le rapport majeur sur le racisme systémique au sein du plus grand réseau hospitalier du Québec. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) Rappelons que la chef libérale Dominque Anglade a bien énoncé sa position contre le racisme systémique lors du « Face-à-Face » il y a 3 semaines.
3) Ce matin, j'ai reçu la déclaration suivante de l'attaché de presse d'Anglade, @JeremyGhio, au sujet du rapport remis au Centre universitaire de santé McGill (CUSM) vendredi. Ce qui suit est la déclaration :
Read 11 tweets
Sep 25
1) With everyone from President Biden to the director-general of the World Health Organization suggesting that the #COVID19 pandemic is all but over, there is nevertheless one stubborn indicator in Quebec that hints that the province may already be entering a dreaded 8th wave.
2) As everyone now knows, Quebec – like most jurisdictions around the world – stopped widespread #COVID screening in January. The only reliable indicator left is wastewater analysis, which unfortunately has attracted very little news media attention of late.
3) And the latest wastewater analysis from Quebec’s public health institute (INSPQ) reveals that SARS-CoV-2 concentrations are rising in nearly every region of the province, most dramatically in Trois-Rivières and Gatineau. Please see the chart below. Image
Read 12 tweets
Sep 22
1) EXCLUSIF : Les co-auteurs d'un rapport sur le racisme systémique au Centre universitaire de santé McGill ont été informés qu'ils ne pouvaient pas parler aux journalistes de leurs découvertes explosives. Veuillez cliquer sur mon histoire ci-dessous. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) Les co-auteurs de ce rapport sont des femmes de couleur. Ils sont également membres du conseil d'administration du CUSM, un organisme public, mais ils ont déclaré qu'ils ne pouvaient pas accorder d'entrevues aux médias au sujet de cet important document.
3) Ce rapport a atterri au milieu d'une campagne électorale provinciale et quelques heures avant le débat des chefs de ce soir. Je me demande si l'un des dirigeants commentera sur le rapport et le fait que les 2 co-auteurs ne peuvent pas en parler aux médias. Fin de l'enfilade.
Read 5 tweets
Sep 22
1) EXCLUSIVE: The co-authors of a landmark report on systemic racism at the McGill University Health Centre have been told that they can't speak to journalists about their bombshell findings. Please click on my story below.

montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) The co-authors of this report are women of color. They are also members of the board of the publicly-run MUHC, yet they have told that they cannot grant media interviews about this important document.
3) This report has landed in the middle of a provincial election campaign and hours before tonight's leaders' debate. I wonder whether any of the leaders will comment on the report and the fact that the two co-authors cannot speak about it to the news media. End of thread.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 17
1) Health Minister Christian Dubé took a moment from campaigning in the provincial election on Saturday to warn Quebecers that they are not immune to the risk of an 8th wave in the #pandemic, citing the example of France. So what is going on in France?
2) The chart below by Our World in Data would suggest that the situation is under control in France, with weekly new hospital admissions for #COVID19 at 39 per million population, well below the rate of 371 during the #pandemic's first wave on April 3, 2020. Please see below. Image
3) But as everyone now knows, hospitalizations are a lagging indicator of new infections and those are now creeping up in France. “The circulation of SARS-CoV-2 has started to rise again after several weeks of improvement,” the French public health agency stated in an update.
Read 10 tweets
Sep 16
1) Un jour après que le premier ministre Legault a de nouveau nié le racisme systémique et dit que tout est reglé à l'hôpital de Joliette, Radio-Canada rapporte le contraire. Voir le texte ci-dessous. ici.radio-canada.ca/espaces-autoch…
2) "Ce n'est pas encore réglé", indique le chef du conseil des Atikamekw de Manawan, Sipi Flamand, près de deux ans après le décès de Joyce Echaquan. lapresse.ca/actualites/202…
3) Aussi aujourd'hui, TVA Nouvelles a appris que deux infirmières du CLSC de Joliette sont rentrées au travail lundi. Elles avaient été congédiées en mars 2021 pour des propos jugés racistes et discriminatoires à l’égard d'une autre patiente atikamekw. tvanouvelles.ca/2022/09/16/aff…
Read 5 tweets

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