Health Canada does an about-face on Covid testing at home

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⇒ Issue #105 (In numerology, 105 expresses itself as harmonious energy. It also resonates with home and nurturing.)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 09/03: 131,941*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 09/03: 9,182*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 09/03: 26,062,946*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 09/03: 863,826*

September 3, 2020—Happy Thursday, Curveflatteners. Coming to you from a few blocks south of the Islington Village of Murals on Dundas Street West In Toronto, Canada (see photo below), I'm Chronicle senior editor John Evans.

While we are at the end of summer vacation season, loosening international travel restrictions are making more flights available to travellers. But fewer restrictions, as always, doesn't translate to no risk of Covid-19 transmission. Questions remain on the best way to keep a single case from abroad from turning into many transmissions locally.

Global News reports that starting today, China is allowing international fights to travel directly to Beijing from eight countries, including Canada. Since March, flights to China have been directed to other cities as their first point of entry, restrictions that the Civil Aviation Administration of China said it may reimpose if more than three passengers test positive for the coronavirus upon arrival.

In Canada, airlines and Transport Canada are trying to hash out an alternative to this country's two-week quarantine rule for people entering the country. That would hinge on effective in-airport testing for Covid-19. But as the National Post reports, setting up that sort of testing would be challenging for a number of reasons, including: the co-operation needed between airports, airlines, and different health authorities, and the fact that the lab tests currently approved by health agencies take 24 to 48 hours to deliver results. That latter issue is particularly problematic for departures. 

On the other hand, Health Canada does appear to be taking another look at at-home Covid-19 testing. The Globe and Mail reports that on Tuesday, Sept. 1, the federal health bureau announced in a statement they reversed a June decision that it wouldn't review applications for home Covid-19 test kits.

According to a statement, “Health Canada is [now] open to reviewing all testing solutions [including] approaches that use self-collection and/or at-home test kits, in particular for screening purposes.”

The Globe article quotes epidemiologists who say that while at-home kits may not be as accurate, their utility lies in frequent testing of large numbers of people, potentially identifying more asymptomatic cases.

COVID CHRONICLE 09/03/2020

• Researchers believe they have identified proteins in the placenta that prevent mother-to-child transmission of the Covid-19 virus. In their article, published in Placenta (Oct. 2020; 100:69-74), the authors write: “Overall this study provides an important basis for the ongoing evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 physiology in pregnancy and highlights the importance of the placenta as a key source of primary human tissue for ongoing diagnostic and therapeutic research efforts to reduce the global burden of Covid-19.”
   
  
• In a surprise to the researchers who conducted a study of the impact of Covid-19 on symptoms of depression and anxiety, and overall quality of life in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS), the global pandemic has resulted in little change in the experiences of this population. The authors of the paper hypothesize that individuals with PMS, knowing their vulnerability to infectious disease may have adopted good Covid-19-protection behaviours early on, and followed them diligently, which might mitigate anxiety and depression.
• In an editorial in Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience (2020; 45(4):229-233), an international group of doctors argue that the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that it is as essential to maintain treatments for psychiatric ailments during a public health crisis as it is for conditions such as cancer or renal failure. "The combination of the stress of the Covid-19 pandemic, the conditions it has forced patients into and the threat of losing biological and psychosocial treatments that kept them well could trigger psychiatric worsening and a large number of relapses," the authors wrote. 

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

My colleague Dhiren Mahiban is working on a story on recent research that looked at how childhood and lifetime traumatic events may be associated with the risk of hidradenitis suppurativa.

TONIGHT I AM WATCHING

The 'How to Start your Home Bar' episode, from the YouTube channel “How To Drink.” Hosted by non-professional barman but genuinely fun person Greg Titian, this channel explores not just how to mix cocktails, but the history and mythology behind them. This episode is on the first steps a novice mixologist should take when looking to explore cocktails at home, including core bottles and the right tools for the job.

LATER I AM COOKING

Somewhat inspired by Allan's description yesterday of fresh vegetables, I am going to be teaming up a tomato off the vine with one of my other favourites, nightshades, and doing a fry-up with tomato and sliced potato. Maybe I'll get an egg in there, or just grate some cheddar over the potatoes. The red fruit will get a dusting of shichimi togarashi—a spicy-peppery-savoury spice mix from Japan—which makes the tomato flavour really pop.

YONDER COMES THE LONG WEEKEND

Tomorrow my "kolleague" Kylie Rebernik will dish out your daily Covid-19 news and views to round out our week.