1) On Dec. 10, Montreal crossed the threshold by Harvard University experts for stay-at-home orders. But Quebec waited until Dec. 17 to send schoolchildren home. On Dec. 25, it shut businesses. The city posted 648 #COVID19 cases Dec. 10. By Sunday, it was more than double: 1,300.

2) The latest figures show #COVID19 is now surging far faster in Montreal than any other region in the province. The metropolis’s seven-day rolling average rose to 43.88 cases per 100,000 residents Sunday, well above Harvard’s 25-case threshold.

3) Provincially, Quebec set a record 2,869 #COVID19 cases Sunday, as well as a record 1,225 hospitalizations. Of that number, a record 179 patients were being treated in rapidly crowding intensive-care units across the province.

4) On Dec. 31, the provincial health institute warned that Montreal was at risk of breaching its ICU capacity in two weeks' time. These latest #COVID19 statistics all but confirm that will happen. Please see the chart on ICU projections below.

5) During the #pandemic’s first wave, Montreal hospital emergency rooms were eerily quiet, as many people avoided them. But now during the second wave, they’re overcrowded and fast becoming the sites of #COVID19 outbreaks. See the chart below.

6) Sadly, as expected, the rising #COVID19 cases have resulted in more fatalities, with Quebec declaring a death toll of 8,347, up by 121 in the past three days. There’s no breakdown for Montreal, or stats on outbreaks. Those figures will likely be published Monday.

7) Responding to what can be objectively described as dire #COVID19 numbers, Premier François Legault tweeted Sunday the “virus is more present than ever in Quebec. Let us be very careful to protect the vulnerable and our health-care workers." But he announced no new measures.

8) On Saturday, two experts at McGill University argued that half measures don’t work in fighting this #pandemic, and they urged Legault directly not to reopen schools and businesses on Jan. 11, as he had planned initially. Will the premier listen to them? https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-we-need-a-serious-lockdown-not-half-measures?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1609556073

9) The doubling of #COVID19 cases in Montreal over three and a half weeks demonstrates that the current measures are not working, especially with confirmation that a new, much more transmissible #coronavirus strain is here. Urgent action is required. Now. End of thread.