1) A week after Premier @francoislegault said he'd keep bars open despite #COVID19 outbreaks in some of them, two Montreal drinking establishments closed their doors Thursday because of exposure to the #pandemic illness. Please click on my column below. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/analysis-two-more-montreal-bar-closings-raise-covid-concerns/wcm/f62d39b2-4d8d-4959-95a9-2ee7bce89612/

2) Obviously, this is a troubling development for two reasons. There are more #COVID19 outbreaks in bars, and they’re taking place despite the Premier’s vaunted public-safety measures. The outbreaks are also occurring as Montreal and the regions report more cases overall.

3) It was only on Monday that public health authorities almost nonchalantly revealed three outbreaks linked to bars infecting 65 people. On Friday, Lachine announced it was closing three pools, one water park and testing all its lifeguards after one came down with #COVID19.

4) Quebec on Friday reported its 13th consecutive day of cases above 100. The seven-day average is 157, compared with cases in the 60-range three weeks earlier. There are now outbreaks in two seniors’ residences in Quebec City and among migrant farm workers in Lac Saint-Jean.

5) There are outbreaks linked to five day camps in the Montérégie and a cluster to a ball hockey tournament in Mirabel. Add to that an outbreak at the Stock Bar in Montreal in which five staffers got infected, plus the owner, and you’ve got a #COVID19 resurgence in Quebec.

6) Yet Quebec won't close bars and is in fact doubling down. The government will permit public gatherings of 250 people anywhere in the province as of Aug. 3. It announced the gatherings first without making public any details about its plans to reopen schools in just five weeks.

7) Meanwhile, Montreal posted 66 new #COVID cases Friday, up from 46 the day before. Yes, the increase can be attributed partly to the welcome boost in testing. But more tests don't explain the outbreaks in bars, a hockey tournament, day camps, public pools and eldercare homes.

8) At the neighborhood level, the Plateau Mont-Royal continues to observe #COVID cases in the double digits, as the chart below shows. The health district of Dorval-Lachine-LaSalle reported more cases. Perhaps this is because of a new testing centre and a possible pool outbreak.

9) For those who’ve complained my reporting is unduly pessimistic, I want to draw attention to this undeniably positive trend: Montreal has not declared a #COVID19 death for six days in a row! What’s more, none of the city’s eldercare facilities have observed new cases in days.

10) But the #COVID clusters flaring up in so many different settings across Quebec don't augur well so soon before elementary and high schools reopen. There should be an intensive public-health plan to contain these outbreaks instead of bland reassuring statements. End of thread.