1) New York City announced it will close its schools again Thursday after its #COVID positivity rate rose to 3%. By comparison, Montreal’s schools are staying open even though the public health department disclosed Wednesday the city’s positivity rate climbed to 6.02% from 5.26%.

2) Boston shut its schools on Oct. 21 after that city’s #COVID19 positivity rate jumped to 5.7% from 4.5%. Four Boston public schools reopened on Monday. In this thread, I will once again draw attention to the need for more measures to protect students and teachers in Quebec.

3) Toronto’s #COVID19 positivity rate has inched up higher than Montreal’s, to 6.2% from 5.9% a week ago. Like Montreal, Toronto will not close its schools. But unlike Montreal, Toronto has implemented more public safety measures during the #pandemic’s second wave for schools.

4) Since the school year's start, all students in Grades 4 and up wear masks in classrooms. Quebec belatedly required masks, but only in high schools in red zones. The Toronto School District Board installed air purifiers in 500 classrooms last month. Quebec has yet to do so.

5) Ontario's measures aren't full-proof. To date 3,626 students and staff have tested positive for the #coronavirus in Ontario’s publicly-funded schools, including cases that are resolved. By comparison, the cumulative total in Quebec in the public system is almost triple, 9,903.

6) In Ontario, 670 schools have reported at least one #COVID19 cases in contrast with 1,027 in Quebec, up by nine since Tuesday. Ontario has had to close three schools temporarily. In less populous Quebec, nine schools are either fully or partially closed.

7) This comparison suggests Ontario’s measures have proved more effective in curbing the transmission of the #coronavirus in schools than in Quebec. This is something to keep in mind on the eve of an announcement Thursday by Premier François Legault and his education minister.

8) Meanwhile, Quebec added 14 more #COVID19 hospitalizations Wednesday to a total of 652, the highest absolute number in Canada. (For added context, Manitoba’s hospitalization rate per million population is now much higher than Quebec’s.)

9) Quebec added 35 more #COVID19 fatalities Wednesday to a provincial death toll that stands at 6,710. Seventeen of those deaths occurred in the province’s long-term care centres and seniors’ residences, 26 of which are grappling with outbreaks that are judged critical.

10) Montreal, for its part, declared two more #COVID19 fatalities to a death toll that has risen to 3,579. The city’s rolling seven-day average incidence is 147.57 cases per million, still considered high enough to remain in the red zone. End of thread. Stay safe, everyone.