1) Quebec on Wednesday declared the sharpest daily increase in #COVID19 outbreaks in weeks, 31, with most of the new clusters arising in schools. In this thread, I will focus on transmission of the #coronavirus among teenagers and children in the province.

2) Of the 31 new #COVID19 outbreaks Wednesday, Quebec reported 12 in schools to 341, nine in daycares to 81, nine in health-care institutions to 306 and three in the workplace to 474. If you lump schools in with daycares, the total is 21 in a sector of mostly children and teens.

3) Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s chief public health officer, acknowledged the increase in #COVID19 transmission in a National Assembly hearing Wednesday. At present, there are 3,320 active cases among students and 918 among school staff, the highest to date in the #pandemic.

4) For months, authorities in Quebec have played down the role of youth in transmitting the #coronavirus. But the latest data in the province suggest children and teens are, in fact, driving much of the spread of the virus. Studies around the world show similar findings.

5) Meanwhile, Montreal may be one or two days away from crossing the threshold of 25 cases per 100,000 residents, a ratio which public-health experts at Harvard University say would warrant a total lockdown. The city’s seven-day average rose to 23.6 cases per 100,000 residents.

6) At the neighborhood level, there are no signs that transmission of the #coronavirus is letting up anywhere in the metropolis. The health district of the Plateau Mont-Royal, which posted fewer than 10 cases a day for a few days, was back to reporting a much higher number: 24.

7) There are now 15,427 active #COVID19 cases in the province, up by 573 since Tuesday. Hospitalizations for the #pandemic illness (which is more than simply a respiratory disease) inched up by nine to 844. Of greater concern is the total number of ICU patients, 121.

8) The pressure on hospitals is also not letting up. At the Jewish General, 41 people have been hospitalized for #COVID19, up by 10 from a few days ago. Emergency-room overcrowding may be growing worse not only in Montreal but across the province. See the chart below.

9) Here’s a chilling statistic: 224 people have died from #COVID19 in Quebec since Dec. 1. On Wednesday, the province’s death toll climbed by 37 to 7,349. Montreal claimed five more deaths. Please take a look at the chart below.

10) Rather than fund air purifiers in schools, the government appears content to let one Montreal public school conduct its own ventilation experiment. Rather than impose a “circuit-breaker” lockdown, the government is now threatening fines to #COVID19 scofflaws. End of thread.