We're coming up on the half-time show of annus horribilis 2020, the worst year ever

⇒ Issue #64

⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 06/29: 105,4193*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 06/29: 8,582*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 06/29: 10,154,984*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 06/29: 502,048*

June 29, 2020—Rise and shine, you CurveFlatteners. It's Mitch Shannon here at the keyboard, coming to you today from the busy intersection of Hopefulness Boulevard and Promenade de la Grand Malaise. (You may know the spot: it's where the elite meet to bleat in defeat. And, yes, it's also where they cheat, before they ultimately retreat.)

As we arrive at the halfway point of annus horribilis 2020, this year of living Covid-ly, it seems the lessons accompanying the virus have not yet been fully absorbed, and the history that will be scribbled about this era hasn't yet received even a rough first-draft outline. 

You might allow yourself a needed giggle by speculating on who will write that history, from among all the obvious sci-fi tropes. Might it be the cluster of sentient machines destined to replace the human race (i.e., an algorithm sarcastically named "Hoffstadter?") Will it be a bored scribe from among Elon Musk's heirs and assigns propelled by SpaceX, as they pleasure-cruise the solar system in search of the next habitable virus-free planets to colonize? 

That kind of Asimovian guesswork is plainly above anyone's pay-grade. But what's clear is that at 2020's half-time intermission, we find we're all combatants in a war between humanity and its enemy, a virulent organism that seems unknowable and — dare we begin to think? — unbeatable. And the outcome of this Armageddon isn't at all clear right now. 

What is apparent is that the handful of choices we currently have on offer are binary, and really are not all that complicated. We can take the threat seriously, or just pretend it's fake news. You can be a responsible adult, or else potentially infect a dozen people you claim to care about. You can just wear the friggin' mask to the Starbucks and get your coffee, or else don't wear the friggin' mask and go on without. 

While you're deciding, remember that in Greek mythology there's not one but two masks, representing Thalia, the muse of comedy, and Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. In some ways, this ancient symbolism mirrors the bifurcation process we're now observing. Behind Thalia's mask you might find the Prime Minister of Canada, the Rt. Hon. "Sonny" Ways, who proposes to send the virus packing with an armamentarium of sympathetic smiles and a flow of cheques meant to be spent on adult-use combustibles and craft beer. Masked as Melpomene is the dour leader of the neighbouring nation, whose solution is to gather his feeble-minded supporters in an enclosed space where he can prance, glower and project his infected sputum upon them. 

Comedy and Tragedy. Tragedy and Comedy. You see, Mr. President, even when you're making a fuss over not wearing a mask, dude, you're still wearing a (hideous) mask. You see, Prime Minister, your mask's flawless orthodontic work may be a tribute to the skill of Dr. Elliot Mechanic, or someone like him, but that simulated benevolent smile is bound to grow annoying beyond another five or ten minutes of quarantine.  

Thalia and Melpomene seem to be locked in a tie at half-time. So, stay tuned and don't touch that dial, not just because it may not have been disinfected. Canada Day is coming. The year's half gone. Things should start to get interesting, right about now.

COVID CHRONICLE 06/29/2020 

• The supposition that antibodies will provide long-term protection to people previously infected with Covid-19 has been challenged by a Chinese study of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients recently published in Nature Medicine. A team of researchers at Wanzhou People’s Hospital in the PRC found antibody levels dropped at eight weeks following recovery to below detectable levels in 13 per cent of patients with symptoms and 40 per cent of patients not displaying symptoms. The authors conclude their findings   "support the prolongation of public health interventions, including social distancing, hygiene, isolation of high-risk groups and widespread testing."
• An unusual case of Covid-associated Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in a 54-year-old Pittsburgh, Pa. patient was described in the recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular Disease. Previous reports of GBS-Covid co-morbidities came from Italy and China and have been described as "parainfectious complication[s.]" Said lead author Sandeep Rana, MD: "Although the number of documented cases internationally is notably small to date, it's not completely surprising that a COVID-19 diagnosis may lead to a patient developing GBS. The increase of inflammation and inflammatory cells caused by the infection may trigger an irregular immune response that leads to the hallmark symptoms of this neurological disorder… Since GBS can significantly affect the respiratory system and other vital organs being pushed into overdrive during a COVID-19 immune response, it will be critically important to further investigate and understand this potential connection."
• Within two weeks of the province permitting the reopening of nail salons, two locations of a manicure chain in the eastern Ontario city of Kingston were linked to 21 cases of Covid-19, reports CTV News. Five hundred clients of the salons were instructed to remain in quarantine for two weeks, along with those in close contact with the clients. 
• It's one (gigantic) thing to shepherd a Covid-19 vaccine candidate through each phase of clinical trials in a matter of weeks, not years. However, assuming the unprecedented goal can be achieved, the next question is: How to ramp up manufacturing and distribution? The stateside CMO Catalent believes it can do the job and has inked pacts with vaccine developers Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Arcturus. Last week the company agreed to produce 100 million doses of Moderna's vaccine candidate from its Indiana plant in Q3 of this year. Moderna is hoping its vaccine will enter an accelerated Phase III trial as quickly as possible. The company's Juan Andres tells Endpoint News: “We appreciate this collaboration with Catalent and the flexibility of their team to deliver critical fill-finish capacity for mRNA-1273 at unprecedented speed.” 

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Our Kylie Rebernik interviewed Dr. Renita Aluwahila for an upcoming article in The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy about dysmorphic disorder in patients with acne.   

RIGHT NOW I'M READING...

I've been on an Adrian McKinty kick for the past week, catching up on his many police-procedural novels about a vexatious detective working for the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Belfast in the mid-eighties. "Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly" is the 2017 instalment, which takes its name from the Tom Waits tune. Our copper (or "peeler," in the local parlance) is Inspector Sean Duffy, a Catholic among the mostly Prot flatfoot brigade, a dropout from a PhD program in English at Queen's University Belfast, and a depressed drunk who reflexively checks under his BMW each morning for terrorist bombs. I can see that these books might not appeal to everyone, and I can't put them down.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Go ahead an use the comments section at the Daily CurveFlattener to let us know what's going on today, or else check in via LinkedIn, email, or homing pigeon. Pass this newsletter along to your colleagues, won'tcha?

That's it. Chronicle's John Evans takes over tomorrow to close off the month of June.