1) In my Twitter thread yesterday, I wrote about how Montreal has continued to defy the odds in the third wave. But that doesn’t mean the #pandemic is over in the city — far from it. In this thread, I will highlight some lingering problems.

2) First, the number of #COVID19 outbreaks in the city inched up by four to 281 since last week. What’s more, the majority involve the more transmissible variants. Still, the head of the Montreal public health department cautioned that the clusters are small. See the chart below.

3) And although #COVID19 outbreaks decreased in the workplace in Montreal since a week ago, they increased in grocery stores. Clusters also went up in both health-care institutions and schools, likely fueled by the variants. Please take a look at the chart below.

4) An outbreak that will probably be added to next week’s update is the one among at least 14 ER staff at St. Mary’s Hospital. The staff had not yet received their second #COVID19 shots, highlighting the importance of getting the two doses. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/covid-19-outbreak-strikes-vaccinated-er-staff-at-st-marys-hospital

5) The St. Mary’s story also highlights two other essential points: that vaccines are effective, since most of the staff had little or no symptoms; but that people who are partially inoculated must remain cautious until they get their second dose.

6) On Tuesday, 36.78% of Montreal’s population had received at least one dose against #COVID19, in contrast with a rate of 34.2% provincially. The city expects to receive 100,000 Pfizer doses next week, double the usual number.

7) In the race of vaccines against variants, the latter are still circulating in the city. Montreal on Wednesday posted 174 variant cases, but the incidence of variants is still much higher in Capitale-Nationale and Outaouais. Please see the chart below that is not made public.

8) Meanwhile, Montreal’s seven-day average increased slightly to 12.64 #COVID19 cases per 100,000 residents. But that is still very low in the third wave, especially when one considers that Toronto’s rate on Wednesday was 40.91 cases per 100,000.

9) And for two days in a row, Montreal’s #COVID19 hospitalizations remained at 219 and ICU stays at 67. Outside the city and across the province, hospitalizations fell by 24 and ICU stays by nine. Please see the chart below that shows hospitalizations according to age group.

10) However, #COVID19 outbreaks jumped by 25 on Wednesday to 1,193 across Quebec, with increases observed in the workplace, schools and daycares — underscoring the need not to slip into complacency. End of thread. Please get vaccinated and limit your social contacts.