The footballer Dr. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif shows what heroism is all about

The NPC Podcast is on the air. The organizers of the National Pharmaceutical Congress are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's guest this week will be Lee Ferreira of Ferring Pharmaceuticals. It will be out Wednesday, but you can listen to older episodes here now, and keep an eye out Wednesday morning for the newest episode. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma.

⇒ Issue #84 (In numerology, the number 84 urges you to work hard in order to make your dreams a reality.)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 07/28: 116,471*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 07/28: 8,945*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 07/28: 15,495,309*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 07/28: 654,327*

July 28, 2020—It’s Tuesday and reporting from high atop the Chronicle CurveFlattening Tower in Etobicoke, Ont., is Editorial Director Allan Ryan.

And from the Chronicle Tower, you can almost see Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y. That’s where the Toronto Blue Jays will set up shop for the just-launched Major League Baseball season after the Federales nixed any baseball games in Toronto this year that involved teams crossing the border.

But it is now a question mark if the baseballers will get to play more than a few games. Yesterday, at least 14 people associated with the Miami Marlins team tested positive for Covid-19. Perhaps MLB’s plan to hopscotch teams around the United States for contests was more hopeful than realistic.

Over in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), star forward Elena Delle Donne requested an exception from being forced back onto the court as the league resumes play. She was diagnosed with Lyme Disease 12 years ago, takes 64 prescription therapies a day and has a compromised immune system. After doctors advised her that playing could put her at higher risk for Covid-19 and endanger her health, she applied for a health exemption from the league that would have excused her from playing but maintained her salary. The WNBA refused. “I’m now left with two choices: I can either risk my life … or forfeit my paycheck,” the Washington Mystics player said.
On the gridiron, offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs became the first National Football League player to opt out of the 2020 season. Duvernay-Tardif (pictured above), a physician who graduated from McGill, has chosen to continue his Covid-19 work at a long-term care centre in Montreal as an alternative to stacking up rushing linebackers. Since he elected not to play, he'll be paid $150,000 by the team rather than his annual $2.75 million salary.

COVID CHRONICLE 07/28/2020

• The Origin of Covid-19 and Why It Matters: The authors of this paper published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene argue that scientists need to know more about how the deadly infection developed to combat new strains. They note that a large body of research shows the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolved directly or indirectly from a β-coronavirus in the sarbecovirus (SARS-like virus) group that naturally infect bats and pangolins in Asia and Southeast Asia, and argue that similar viruses are likely to emerge over and over again.
• The environmental context of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is an area of study that needs to be more closely examined, according to the authors of this paper in the journal Science of the Total Environment. They note that improved understanding of these factors will help to detect outbreaks and predict pandemic severity, the knowledge that will help to deal with future pandemics.
• An Ontario nurse practitioner is under investigation by her employer after using social media to spread health misinformation, according to reports. Kristal Pitter’s social media accounts claim the Covid-19 pandemic is a conspiracy and that the threat to public health has been exaggerated. To make matters worse, she is a provincial long-term care home inspector, and we know how this situation has gone for many of the residents in those facilities

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY
Assistant Editor Kylie Rebernik is just doing a final review of her article on body dysmorphic disorder in acne patients, which will be published in an upcoming issue of The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy.

TONIGHT I'M RE-READING...

Love in the Time of Cholera, published in 1985 by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Seems like an ideal time to re-visit GGM and his distinctive brand of magic realism, a style that really seems to resonate in 2020 amid this Covid pandemic. Maybe I'll put on some Enya while I turn the pages for a thorough basting in the surreal.

HOW WAS YOUR DAY?

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That's it. Stay in touch, stay safe and enjoy your Tuesday. Publisher Mitch Shannon will be here tomorrow for your news updates.