1) Since the start of the school year, the two demographics that have been observing the sharpest percentage increases in positive #COVID19 test results are elementary and high school students, according to the latest data by the Montreal public health department. Let me explain.

2) Over the summer and during the second #pandemic wave, authorities have determined that young adults are driving community transmission of the #coronavirus. In Montreal, public health director Mylène Drouin has broadened the age group to include those aged 18 t 34.

3) These individuals have been inadvertently spreading the #coronavirus in the workplace and during private gatherings, Drouin has explained. This is all true. But since Aug. 25, the highly contagious pathogen has been infecting children at a faster rate. Let me show the stats.

4) Since Aug. 25 in Montreal, the number of new #COVID19 cases among those aged 10 to 19 (mostly high school students) has soared by 41.29%, the highest of any demographic. The next sharpest percentage increase is among elementary school students (aged 5 to 9): 28.53%.

5) The group to report the third sharpest spike are those aged 20 to 29, with an increase of 22.92%. In absolute numbers, this is the group that is declaring the biggest tally of #COVID infections: 1,232, against 519 among those aged 10 to 19.

6) The 20-to-29 demographic was declaring the most cases throughout the summer, but after schools reopened cases among the younger age groups have started to climb. During the summer, children were contracting the #coronavirus at camps and in the community. What’s happening now?

7) Are children and teens contracting #COVID in schools in addition to outside of them? What’s telling is Dr. Drouin noted the number of school outbreaks in the city has doubled to 30 in a week. Certainly, the school environment must not be discounted as a source of transmission.

8) On Wednesday, the Education Ministry identified 103 more active #COVID19 cases among students since Tuesday and 29 more among school employees across Quebec, according to the chart below. Teachers and other employees are contracting #COVID19 at a faster rate than students.

9) As of Wednesday night, more than one in five schools in the province has found at least one #COVID19 case, according to http://covidecolesquebec.org . What all these figures demonstrate is Quebec’s schools are now in a crisis of sorts, of shuttered classes and a lack of resources.

10) Yet during Premier François Legault’s new conference Wednesday afternoon announcing hefty fines for those who flout the latest public health guidelines, both the Premier and Quebec’s chief public health officer appeared to downplay the severity of this crisis in schools.

11) “I know I heard someone say that there was a lot of transmission in the schools,” Legault told reporters. “Not sure it’s that clear.” Added Dr. Horacio Arruda: “We have seen that there were transmissions in private gatherings, not necessarily at school.”

12) Thus, if the problem is not in schools, there's no need to provide added protection, correct? But there's a growing scientific consensus that there is a problem in schools, and quick solutions are needed — from improved ventilation to mandatory masks in class. End of thread.

Addendum: As usual, I produced lots of charts for tonight’s Twitter thread to examine the latest epidemiological trends in Montreal, which recorded 133.15 #COVID cases per million population on Wednesday. I will return to those charts in tomorrow night’s thread.