1) Just before the start of the academic year, Ontario’s #COVID19 science advisory panel warned “children could play a relevant role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” In this thread, I will call upon Quebec to implement more aggressive measures to protect students in schools.

2) The expert panel suggested that school closures during the first wave “may have been important contributors to the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic.” This does not mean I’m recommending closing schools again. https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/sciencebrief/the-role-of-children-in-sars-cov-2-transmission/

3) But perhaps the school environment itself — with packed classrooms and some students not maintaining #PhysicalDistancing or wearing masks — can lead to #COVID19 outbreaks. Certainly, that has happened in at least 14 schools in Montreal.

4) What we’ve noticed is that the second wave has coincided, in part, with the start of the school year. Again, I am not recommending that schools close, but observing that 359 classrooms in Quebec have been shuttered to date. See the chart below.

5) Most of the #COVID19 outbreaks that the Montreal public health department has identified have been in the workplace, with transmission of the virus driven mostly by people in the 18-to-34 age bracket. In second place, however, are schools.

6) The latest statistics from Public Health reveal that since the start of the school year, the Montreal demographic that has reported the sharpest percentage increase (22.43%) in new #COVID cases are those aged 10 to 19, comprising some elementary and all high school students.

7) This does not suggest that the city’s schools have become breeding grounds for the #coronavirus, like the Diamond Princess or seniors’ residences in the first wave. But authorities must make them safer. It’s the least we can do for our children.

8) Top of the list of recommendations is for Quebec to finally heed the pleas of parents and schools to require that students wear masks in the classroom, as Ontario has mandated. Anecdotally, more students are taking it upon themselves to don them anyway in classrooms.

9) Just putting on a face covering (over the nose!) makes one instantly more aware and careful during the #pandemic. Another recommendation is to consider portable ventilation where practical. Every added measure of protection helps in this #pandemic.

10) Meanwhile, Montreal’s rolling seven-day average rose to 76.66 cases per million population Thursday, up from 64.53 the day before. The city posted 247 new #COVID19 cases. At this rate, it might not be too long before the metropolis becomes a red zone. (See the chart below.)

11) At the neighborhood level, #COVID19 is continuing to surge in central and eastern Montreal, but cases are also sprouting up in the west end of the city, as the chart below makes clear. And some of these districts have overcrowded schools.

12) It’s against the backdrop of at least 53 active outbreaks in Montreal that #COVID hospitalizations are ticking up and ER congestion has turned into a huge problem. (See below). The circumstances now call for a revision to Quebec’s school plan. Please stay safe. End of thread.