Retour à l'école (encore)... but it won't be back-to-school as usual in Quebec

NEW: Expanded capacity. Additional tickets now available for the National Pharmaceutical Congress Spring 2020 Webinar, "After This Rude Interruption: What the Life Sciences Will Look Like After the Covid Crisis" Wed., May 20, 11 a.m. to noon (EDT.) Panel discussion of thought-leaders from the Canadian Life Sciences and physician communities to discuss and determine the way forward. Faculty includes: Wendy Adams, Galderma Canada; Peter Brenders, Kontollo Health (lead panellist); Dr. Wayne P. Gulliver, Memorial University of Newfoundland & Labrador; Robin Hunter, Malinckrodt; Richard Lajoie, Bausch Health; Mitch Shannon, Chronicle Companies (host.) Registration is free. Register now at http://tiny.cc/NPC-Spring

May 12, 2020 -- Happy Tuesday, CurveFlatteners. It's Chronicle's Kylie Rebernik here, reporting from my state-of-the-art home office in Oakville, Ont., where every keystroke is monitored, assessed, and certified as accurate by my trusted feline assistant, who answers to "Snowy."

While other provinces appear to dither on a decision, Quebec is moving ahead with reopening schools (outside of Montreal) this week. According to CBC News, teachers and schools staff have spent the last few weeks rearranging desks and schedules and using tape to mark out the two-meter social distancing rule that students will have to follow. Children will also not be allowed to socialize in the hallway, lunch will be eaten at desks, and recess will be taken in turns as children will have to avoid contact. The question to be asked is: With these unusual measures in place are children going to be able to have what the rest of us would consider a normal school experience? (Or to recall George W. Bush's historically ungrammatical inquiry, "Is our children learning?")

COVID CHRONICLE 05/12/2020

• A recent study has shown that cannabis extracts may have some potential to increase resistance against Covid-19. In the study led by researcher Dr. Igor Kovalchuk at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, researchers narrowed down 400 cannabis strains to 12 with the potential to increase resistance. 
• A new opinion piece published in JAMA is urging health officials in the U.S. to start testing for Covid-19 in homeless shelters, following a new report by the Centers for Disease Control that shelter residents and staff are testing positive for the virus. 
• Alberta's chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw has confirmed that a recent Covid-19 outbreak in the province is linked to the main Canada Post processing plant in Calgary.

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY...Chronicle correspondent Jermey Visser, has interviewed Dr. Aaron Drucker of Women's College Hospital for his upcoming article in The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy on systemic immunomodulatory treatments for patients with atopic dermatitis.


RIGHT NOW WE'RE READING...Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This literary classic has recently made a comeback in popular culture after the release of Greta Gerwig's 2019 film. Inspired by the novel, I recently splurged on some yarn (true, I'm an avid knitter) from local indie yarn-dyer Hello Stella Fibres. Yarn suppliers are among the businesses that have experienced growth during this pandemic.


LATER WE'RE WATCHING...Burden of Truth. A Canadian legal drama that originally aired on CBC but is now streamable (and binge-able) on Netflix. It stars "Smallville" actor Kristen Kreuk.


TONIGHT WE ARE COOKING...Italian sausage stuffed peppers. I omit the mushrooms from this linked recipe, and I cut the peppers in half and lay them flat. You can always substitute the sausage for another meat or veggie option of your choosing.


TOMORROW AND TOMORROWPlease make use of the comments section at the Daily CurveFlattener, to let us know what you're up to in your social distance. Or feel free to check in via LinkedIn, email, or your choice of connector. By all means, pass this newsletter along to your colleagues.

That's it. Stay in touch, stay safe. The CurveFlattener will be back tomorrow, flattening more curves under the watch of my able colleague Cory Perla.