Here's the thing about Covid surges: They don't care who you are

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly has launched. It's your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives. From Chronicle Companies, organizers of the 14th National Pharmaceutical Congress, which begins Oct. 21. More info at pharmacongress.info

⇒ Issue #114 (In numerology, 114 advises you to move forward in your life with caution and wisdom on business ventures and matters to do with money.)

⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 09/24: 149,939*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 09/24: 9,294*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 09/24: 31,914,770*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 09/24: 977,109*

September 24, 2020—Good morning to CurveFlatteners everywhere. It’s Mitch Shannon at the keyboard this morning, with an important public service reminder that not every surge need be feared.

Yes, it’s suspected that Covid-19 cases may be about to surge in Canada, and, sure, if the trends are accurate, definitely that would be bad. One consequence of rising infections might be that family gatherings on the Thanksgiving holiday, which falls on October 12, will be kiboshed, followed by a Halloween without trick-or-treaters.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday (09/23) said, "The numbers are clear—back on March 13th when we went into lockdown there were 47 new cases of Covid-19. Yesterday alone, we had well over 1,000. We’re on the brink of a fall that could be much worse than the spring."

Do not jump to the conclusion, however, that the very mention of "surge" necessarily precedes anxiety and terror. Consider the soft drink called Surge, a somewhat obscure product of the Coca-Cola Company introduced in the late '90s, intended to do battle with PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew. Surge, the beverage, failed on supermarket shelves but was eventually reintroduced due to an insistently loyal fan base. An inspirational marketing tale, yes? 

And then there are those beloved sports figures known as Serge: Savard of les Canadiens (pictured below), and Ibaka of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors (pictured right.) Great competitors, both. So, if you were to ask Spotify to play Vaughn Monroe’s jaunty 1945 recording of “Just a Blue Serge Suit,” and raise a can of Surge to toast the heroics of Serge and Serge, perhaps you might forget for a moment or two about the impending fear of a coming Covid surge.

You might buy a moment of repose, but it won't change anything. The virus would still be out there, greedily appraising you. That’s the thing about surges. You can invent all the puns and merry wordplay in the world, and you can pull out every ancient pop culture reference that you’ve stored in your pathetic noggin, but the virus won’t be impressed. In that respect, the virus is harsher than the journalism professor back in Eugene who said you might actually become a good reporter if you dropped all the funny stuff and got out of the reader's way. Kenneth Metzler was right about that. I should have listened. So, let’s just skip this horsing around and get to the news, then. Making fun of the surge was a bad idea, and I’m really sorry we chose to go down this road.

The NPC Podcast is back. 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 is Sheila Frame of Sandoz. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma

COVID CHRONICLE 09/23/20

• Covid-19 morbidity data analyzed by a University of Ottawa epidemiologist suggests that an unexpected demographic group has been affected by the virus: young adults. Raywat Deonandan tells CBC News, “Incidence rates in those 20 to 39 years of age remain consistently higher compared to all other age groups.” He offers an explanation for the spike: those in that age category represent most employees in the service industry, and the summer reopening of bars and restaurants led to spreading the disease. There is currently more cases among people under 30 than among the elderly. Dr. Andrew Morris, a Toronto infectious disease specialist says Covid cases “will probably go on steroids in the next couple of weeks — unless something is drastically done.”

• Ontario residents will be able to get tested for Covid at 60 retail pharmacies beginning tomorrow (09/25), the provinces' premier announced. Doug Ford said during a news conference the tests will be free. The announcement follows media reports of wait-times extending to six hours at hospital- and clinic-based test centres. Ford said: "We need to make it easier to get a Covid test, as it is with a flu shot. It is easy to get a flu shot and we have to make sure a COVID test is just as easy."
• African-Americans, Latino and Indiginous people in the USA continue to experience Covid infection and death at a higher rate than the White population, according to recent data reported by National Public Radio. In several states mortality among Black and Brown people is now two-and-a-half times higher than Whites, and the disparity appears to be increasing.

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Our multimedia whiz Jeremy Visser likely missed his dinner last night, due to the unpredictable work schedule of a certain New York City-based dermatology thought-leader he needed to interview and record. Consequently, there's no doubt Jeremy will be working on the veggie meatball hoagie on multigrain that he never got around to yesterday.

RIGHT NOW I'M READING

Rage by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, Cdn$39.99.) As promised, Woodward transcribes 19 hours of the stream-of-consciousness blather issued by the imbecile behind the Resolute Desk. What is more surprising is the unguarded and alarming comments Woodward obtained from the Trump inner circle, which reflect a rising panic as Generals Kelly, Maddox and McMaster and Secretary of State Tillerson all came to the conclusion that their commander-in-chief has the bearing, intellect, and emotional stability of a petulant three-year-old, without any compensating qualities. Taking it all in, the thought becomes unavoidable. This is the way the world ends.

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

Friday's weekend edition of Daily CurveFlattener will be in the skilled hands of our John Evans. Until then, stay safe out there.