1) Montrealers can be forgiven for feeling a bit confused by now. Six days ago, the city’s top public health officer issued her starkest warning over the #COVID19 pandemic. Today, she smiled as she predicted a decline in new cases starting as early as Saturday. What's going on?

2) After all, the number of outbreaks in Montreal’s long-term care centres soared to 62 on Wednesday from 39 the day before. The #COVID death toll in the city climbed to 74 from 63. In this thread, I try to explain why authorities are suddenly so optimistic.

3) Dr. Mylène Drouin has been running projections with experts from the Institut national de santé publique. Those #COVID projections show the city is peaking today, tomorrow and Friday in its epidemiological curve in terms of the number of people infected, she said.