Health-economics lessons for bikers; bedroom advice from Dr. Tam

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⇒ Issue #109 (In numerology, 109 signifies self-reliant energy.)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 09/11: 136,956*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 09/11: 9,213*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 09/11: 28,200,037*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 09/11: 910,134*

Sept. 11, 2020 — Good Friday morning, CurveFlatteners. It’s Mitch Shannon at the keyboard today, directing the following questions to those of my fellow motorcycle enthusiasts who went for a putt down to Sturgis, S.D. for last month’s annual bikers’ rally: Hey, did y’all have fun? And, assuming you did, did you have US$26,553.64 worth of fun? 

That dollar-figure was calculated by researchers from the Health Economics & Policy Studies at San Diego State University, and it represents the apportioned cost per attendee of providing care to those who were infected as a result of exposure during the 10-day clambake. A university boffin figures that 266,796 parties were infected from the 460,000 assembled revellers on-site, and after the partiers returned to their communities. Ninety per cent of those at Sturgis traveled from outside the state. Joseph J. Sabina and colleagues place the attendant healthcare costs resulting from the ritual wingding at US$12 billion. (Their report, “The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Covid-19” can be accessed here.) 

In other words, the health system's bank account might have come out considerably ahead by offering every biker who rode to Sturgis a new Harley Fat Boy model 114 (MSRP: US$21,000) if they agreed to leave it in the garage this summer and stay clear of the superspreader event. 

Continuing the theme of leaving it in the garage, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's public health supremo, decided to go all Dr. Ruth-interviewed-by-Cosmo this week, and addressed an eyebrow-raising series of intimacy tips to Canadians. Said she: “Sex can be complicated in the time of Covid-19 [...]. The lowest risk sexual activity during Covid-19 involves yourself alone. If you choose to engage in an in-person sexual encounter with someone outside of your household or close contacts bubble, there are some steps you can take to reduce your risk.” The steps, which need not be left to the imagination, are described on a federal government website, here.

COVID CHRONICLE 09/11

• Quebec Premier François Legault is fed up with those who ignore the province’s regulations on wearing face-masks in public spaces. He said, during a press conference this week, "We cannot accept that a few irresponsible people put all Quebec at risk. It's time to penalize them." Quebec has left enforcement of the requirements to operators of private businesses, and compliance has been spotty. The province will set fines shortly. Meanwhile, Premier Legault had kind words for his counterpart in the neighboring province of Ontario, Premier Doug Ford, noting, “[he] and I are closer than ever. He’ll probably become a Habs fan very soon.”
  
• Following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump wants an end, in advance of the Nov. 3 presidential election, to travel restrictions between his Covid-afflicted nation and Canada, (where per capita infection rates are one-fifth of the U.S. level), a group of Canadian border-city mayors is lobbying Ottawa to continue the border closure past Sept. 21, through the end of 2020. Mike Bradley, mayor of Sarnia, Ont., tells CTV News: “We really need to have it closed until at least the end of the year and then make an assessment... and we also need to watch what’s happening with our American partners across the river.”
• Covid-19 has been related to a wide range of comorbidities, and the past week introduced one more new medical term into the lexicon: “mask acne.” Dr. Debra Jaliman, a dermatologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, described the phenomenon for Consumer Reports magazine, explaining how accumulated perspiration builds up after masks are worn for extended periods can accumulate bacteria, triggering acne flares. The magazine lists many other consequences of prolonged mask-wearing here. (See following item.)
• In another chilling health consequence of Covid-19, one in nine Americans contemplated suicide last month, according to alarming data analyzed by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among the demographic aged 18 to 24, the rate of suicide ideation is one in four, according to a report from the think-tank. Other study findings: In July, 53 per cent of U.S. survey respondents had depression, anxiety or other mental health issues, compared to 32 per cent in March. 

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Cory Perla is wrapping up a short Healthminute.tv video on how certain skin conditions may suggest a predisposition to Covid-19 infection. Watch for it on http://derm.city

TONIGHT I’M WATCHING 

Game seven of the storied Boston Celtics against the defending champion Toronto Raptors. After Wednesday’s NBA double-overtime squeaker, this will be can’t-miss viewing.

RIGHT NOW I’M READING

Julian Barnes’ 1996 collection of short stories depicting English expatriate characters in France, Cross Channel. Barnes’ mid-career mastery of these tales was a clue that he might eventually claim the title of greatest living U.K. novelist. But I’ll let him work all that out with Ian McEwan and a handful of other worthy challengers.  LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT TO THE WEEKEND

Please make use of the comments section at the Daily CurveFlattener, to let us know what you think. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend in late summer. John Evans will be back on Wednesday with Covid coverage. On Monday, Skin Spectrum Weekly will be in your inbox and if it's Tuesday it's NPC Healthbiz Weekly.