Why make Covid-19 symptoms a moving target? And this just breaking: Trump infected

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

⇒ Issue #118 (In numerology, 118 represents aloneness.)
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 10/02: 162,930*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 10/02 9,368:*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 10/02: 34,324,207*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 10/02: 1,023,451*

October 2, 2020—Good morning, CurveFlatteners. It was revealed overnight that the Covid-denier-in-Chief, U.S. President Donald Trump, is infected with the virus, as is his wife and at least one close aide. They begin the day in quarantine, a development that will tilt the November 2nd national and state elections, and is rocking financial markets as we speak. Follow this developing story here.

By the way, it's editorial director Allan Ryan at the keyboard today.  

Elsewhere, in our "What’s Up with That? Department," let's look at some head-scratching decisions handed down by certain school boards and provincial health departments. (A few short months ago, the words ‘head-scratching’ and ‘schools’ in the same sentence would have set the stage for the next noun, yes, that’s right ‘lice’ -- but this is the Covid-19 era after all.)

At the same time that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has added to its list of potential signs of Covid-19 (chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache, the new loss of taste or smell), certain school boards in Canada are shortening theirs.

In British Columbia, for example, the daily health checklist for school children has been shortened to just seven symptoms from a previous list of 17, a move designed to keep more children in school.

Why? B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry explains: “It’s a balancing act to make sure children are able to attend school as much as possible and minimizing the risk that they pose.” 

Dr. Henry suggested that if a child has one symptom, parents could keep the child at home and monitor them for 24 hours. 

But the B.C. Teachers Federation has expressed some misgivings about the plan. The federation understands the motivation behind the decision—to keep children in school as much as possible—but claims the move has caused much confusion among teachers and parents.

BCTF president Teri Mooring told Global News: “I now understand the motivation behind those changes was ensuring that students aren’t prevented from going to school if they have allergies, for example.”

“These kinds of changes need to be communicated especially with everything being looked at so closely right now,” she added.

The NPC Podcast is back for another season. 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 Marie Lamont of Inteliquet. 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 10/02/2020

• The largest Covid-19 contact tracing study conducted to date has found evidence that children may be superspreaders, according to this report in the journal Science. The study from Princeton University and researchers in India included nearly 500,000 people in two states in India, where the researchers concluded that children and young adults were potentially much more important in the transmission of the virus—especially within households.
  

• According to new data, a majority of Canadians surveyed believe that the Covid-19 pandemic has transformed Canada’s healthcare system and will have a long-term impact. The survey, from the Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management and Scotiabank, also notes that 95 per cent of respondents said that the health and wellness of physicians impacts the health of all Canadians. To support physicians, the three groups have established the $15 million Physician Wellness+ Initiative. According to CMA president Dr. Ann Collins: "Being a physician today comes with a great many stressors–diminishing resources, heavy workloads, not to mention the risks associated with Covid-19. We need to take care of our medical community in order for them to take care of patients. This funding will address the needs of physicians and medical learners by leveraging and bolstering existing health and wellness infrastructure while also extending support in new ways." More info at md.ca/physicianwellness
  
  
• New Canadian research suggests Black, South Asian and Indigenous Canadians are far more likely than white Canadians to have the multiple medical conditions that place them at higher risk of severe outcomes from Covid-19. The author of the paper, University of Toronto Ph.D. student Shen Lin, says the federal government should be tracking how the virus is affecting these minority groups. His paper was published in The Gerontologist.The exacerbating conditions include: diabetes, asthma, cancer, previous heart attack or myocardial infarction, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obesity.

WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO TONIGHT...

Apple Music, Google Play, and other music sites have developed Covid-19 playlists, but this grouping on Spotify from the city of Vancouver is designed to encourage listeners to follow municipal regulations and slow the spread of the virus. The city has dropped three playlists to date, the first one including songs with subtle directives like "Hands Clean" by Alanis Morissette and “Distance" by Yebba.  

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY...

Tomorrow is the second virtual session of the sixth annual Skin Spectrum Summit: The Canadian Conference on Ethnodermatology. Learn more about the presentations, the distinguished faculty, and how to register at www.skinspectrum.ca. 

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND

The new issue of Skin Spectrum Weekly will be in your inbox on Monday morning if you subscribe. Tuesday will bring NPC Healthbiz Weekly to subscribers. (Sign up for both now. They're informative and free.) We'll be back here flattening curves on Wednesday, when Chronicle publisher Mitch Shannon does a takeover. Stay safe until we see you again.