Beach blanket bozos are partying like they've never heard of Covid

⇒ Issue #70 [In numerology, the number 70 confers introspection and inner wisdom. It has seemingly infinite potential.]
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 07/06: 108,023*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 07/06: 8,765*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 07/06: 11,852,101*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 07/06: 544,726*

July 8, 2020—It’s hump day, all you CurveFlatteners. Pounding the keys today from Chronicle HQ in sweltering Etobicoke, Ont. is Editorial Director Allan Ryan, who ponders the Covid19-related hijinks of the younger generation.

Beach Blanket Bingo, Part I: Ontario premier Doug Ford announced on Monday that the province would not close some beaches even though there have been concerns about overcrowding. Ford tried to talk sense into the citizens: "If you go to a packed beach, find another place," Ford told the Canadian Press. "I wouldn't go to a jam-packed beach."But the Mayor of Wasaga Beach, Ont. said access to the public beach in that town would be restricted because of large crowds and the disregard for physical distancing she observed. "People know what the rules are and yet they clearly ignored them all for the sake of a day at the beach. I was appalled by what I witnessed and we are taking steps to control what we can," said Mayor Nina Bifolchi.Beach Blanket Bingo, Part II: At the Sherkston Shores resort on the north shore of Lake Erie, a brawl broke out among a group of youths, many of them intoxicated, according to this report. The beach was a scene of flailing arms and the air was filled with hurled epithets and potential Covid-laced molecules as the skirmishers attempted to maintain physical distancing. But beer bottles were thrown and sand kicked into a few faces, and the police were summoned. These crazy kids would have done well to follow this example set by '60s heartthrobs Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

A night club in downtown Toronto was busted last week (June 30) over revelations that it was holding secret indoor parties with as many as 150 attendees. Toronto police laid charges against the owners and management of Goldie, regarding violation of Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Police say people were entering the bar through the back door to escape notice.


COVID CHRONICLE 07/08/2020

• Researchers think that further research into the use of cannabis as an adjunct treatment for Covid-19 is warranted, according to the results of this article published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. In this report in Forbes, the researchers from the University of Nebraska and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute show that some of the compounds in cannabis may help to reduce the cytokine superstorm and related inflammation seen in Covid-19 infections, and may also reduce a person’s susceptibility to the disease.
• An analysis by STAT, a news service concentrating on health, medicine, and the life sciences, would seem to indicate that Covid-19 clinical trials and studies are disorganized and are often too small to draw conclusions, lack real control groups, and often put too much emphasis on a few potential treatments. For example, of the 1,200 clinical studies on Covid-19 initiated since January, one in six studied hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine. “It’s a huge amount of wasted effort and wasted energy when actually a bit of coordination and collaboration could go a long way and answer a few questions,” said Martin Landray, a professor of medicine at Oxford University and a lead researcher on the RECOVERY study, a large trial of multiple treatments being run by the U.K.
• A Penn State researcher says Covid-19 will have far-reaching impacts on college students. Nicole Ryerson, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State Lehigh Valley, said her interest in the topic was piqued by a report this spring that alcohol sales in the region were spiking. She wondered how much of the increase was related to increased usage by students. She built an online survey she sent to Penn State Lehigh Valley students through the student email system, and the response rate was 11%. Ryerson told Penn State News that “The research fell in line with what someone would anticipate. It confirmed suspicions that students are being hit pretty hard, seeing impacts on their ability to earn money, to get resources, staying in contact socially, and academics are being impacted. All of those factors are related to psychological health.”

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY
Assistant Editor Cory Perla is organizing an interview with Dr. Eunice Chow of Edmonton, who was named the dermatologist of the year by the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance. The report will appear in an upcoming issue of The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy.


RIGHT NOW WE ARE LISTENING TO...

In keeping with the theme of today’s post, this selection seems appropriate: the late Prince, with his “Party like it’s 1999”.


RIGHT NOW WE ARE READING...

And it won't take long to read, but this fascinating article in the New Statesman, A Tale of Three Cities, is a summary of how three cities tackled pandemics and how the cities themselves were altered: Marseille in 1720, Hamburg in 1892 and Östersund, Sweden in 1918. (Readers need to register for access, but then you can access four free articles per month.)


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That's it. Stay in touch, stay safe and enjoy your day. Publisher Mitch Shannon will be back tomorrow with your Thursday edition.