Well, lookit here. The curve really is flattening

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Tuesday, April 21, 2020 -- Here at the Daily CurveFlattener, we would be remiss in our stewardship of said curve if we did not periodically check in on it to see how it is doing. While diagnosis and detection worldwide still are not where they could be, Chronicle senior editor John Evans reports on some recent data that is encouraging.

The European Center for Disease Control reports that the worldwide number of daily new confirmed cases of Covid-19 has somewhat leveled out over the last 15 days. In particular, only two days--April 10 and 11--had higher numbers (87,039 and 89,349) of new confirmed cases than were reported on April 5 (86,479).





Canada has not done quite as well, with eight days seeing more new confirmed cases since April 5 [Data as of April 20]

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus#what-is-the-daily-number-of-confirmed-cases


However, the curve of our seven-day rolling average is definitely starting to level out.
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus#daily-confirmed-cases-are-we-bending-the-curve

Ideally, we would all like to be doing as well as South Korea, which CBC reported had just eight new cases on April 19. It is hard to compare their results with Canada's though, as a scare from an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015 to develop a very aggressive nation-wide system for controlling just these sorts of contagions, as the CBC article outlines.

As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his daily briefing on April 19: "We’re seeing the numbers trend in the right direction, so we need to keep doing what we’re doing, and keep being extremely careful, and we will get through this together."

COVID CHRONICLE 04/21/2020

• A study from the UK has found that stress levels among the general public, related to Covid-19, have declined steadily since social isolation and lockdown measures began in that country. According to the latest findings from the ongoing study, reported in a press release, only one in five respondents say they experienced major stress--defined here as stress that is constantly in mind or keeping the respondent up at night--down from one in three who reported such stress in the days before the lockdown.
• A new cutaneous manifestation of Covid-19 that has been reported in a case study is 'Covid toes.' These are a form of acute and self-healing vasculitic lesions in the toes, and sometimes in the fingers, that have been observed in otherwise asymptomatic patients with the Covid-19 virus.
• While not a cutaneous manifestation of Covid-19, some people may be experiencing acne flares. Global News quotes Toronto-based dermatologist Dr. Julia Carroll, who explains how factors of social distancing including stress, dry indoor air, people experimenting with new skin care routines, and changes in eating habits may all be contributing to acne flares.

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY
Chronicle assistant editor Kylie Rebernik is working on an article for The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy on new research into the association of psoriasis and cancer risk.

RIGHT NOW WE'RE LISTENING TO ...
The 250 Greatest Rock Instrumentals, playlist on Youtube. Working from home, I am finding having some punchy music playing helps keep me energized and focused on my work, but lyrics distract the linguistic part of my brain that should be writing. Instrumental rock is a great compromise, and ranges from the '60s to the present day. There are some really outstanding guitar solos in there, too.


LATER WE WILL BE PLAYING...
Astroneer. I find this video game relaxing, and almost meditative.

TONIGHT WE’RE COOKING...
Egg fried rice. Some of my leftovers are all going into a cast iron frying pan along with two beaten eggs. Quick, easy, tasty, and only leaves me with one cooking instrument to clean? It is hard to top that.


STAY IN TOUCH DURING THE WORKING WEEK AHEAD
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That's it. Stay safe. The Daily CurveFlattener is back tomorrow.