1) With not all schools reopened in the province, Quebec Premier François Legault announced Friday that “if everything goes well,” sports and other extra-curricular activities will resume on Sept. 14. In this thread, I will evaluate the risks of school sports in the #pandemic.

2) Legault’s announcement Friday recalls a much earlier one he made when he set arbitrary dates for the reopening of Montreal schools in May even as #COVID19 cases and hospitalizations skyrocketed in the city. The Premier ended up reversing that decision amid a public outcry.

3) What compelled the Premier to make Friday’s announcement, especially given that 500 students at a Deux-Montagnes high school had to stay home after 20 teachers were sent into preventive isolation? The answer may be an announcement the day before by his Education Minister.

4) On Thursday, @jfrobergeQc announced sports would be restricted to class bubbles until October, sparking protests. What’s noteworthy is the Premier responded quickly to loosen school restrictions, but has declined to heed the call of parents and experts who want masks in class.

5) In making the announcement on sports between classes as early as Sept. 14, Legault staked out a more aggressive position than most other provinces. Yet Quebec still has community transmission of the #coronavirus and observed a second day of a net increase in hospitalizations.

6) The Public Health Agency of Canada has recommended that schools “postpone assemblies, team sports, field trips or extra-curricular activities where physical distancing cannot be maintained.” The U.S. Centres for Disease Control has issued similar guidelines.

7) The mixed messaging between Legault and his education minister followed the tardy release Friday of confusing #COVID19 data by the health ministry. The government explained that it subtracted 78 previously confirmed cases after a lab-contamination error.

8) Initially, the government indicated that 40 cases were under re-evaluation. “These are gradually being withdrawn,” the Montreal public health department stated. Officials did not respond to my query about what they meant about the stats being “gradually withdrawn.”

9) Meanwhile, Montreal appears to have posted 30 new #COVID19 cases Friday, down from 41 the day before, according to the orange line in the chart below. However, given the government’s data errors, I cannot vouch for the reliability of this chart, unfortunately.

10) At the neighborhood level, the highly contagious #coronavirus is circulating in communities across the metropolis, especially in Côte-des-Neiges, downtown and Park Extension. Please see the heavily revised chart below. Once again, such data call for continued vigilance.

11) In the absence of figures on schools from the government, a grassroots effort is now underway to report #COVID19 outbreaks. It’s called http://covidecolesquebec.org  and you’ll be able to get the latest information on what's happening in schools in the #pandemic. End of thread.