Healthcare

The "gold-standard'' COVID-19 tests need to be processed in a lab, and usually take at least a day to provide results. Rapid tests can be processed in the same place a patient is tested, sometimes in as few as 15 minutes, but they are generally considered less reliable than lab results.

The report emphasized that physicians still don't know protocols around who will be denied care if hospitals are overwhelmed and don't have procedures in place to deal with a care-home outbreak that merits rapid intervention.

For the past thousand years, our lifespans have been slowly and steadily increasing. With the exception of somewhat unscheduled plagues and wars, each generation has enjoyed their years on our planet a slight bit longer than the previous. That is, until now. Rather shockingly, new research indicates that segments of the population have begun, just recently, to experience a reversal of this thousand-year long trend. Moreover, while other wealthy nations around the world continue to see a steady march toward longer lives, mysteriously, the reversal in lifespan is, thus far, only evident in the United States.

Cannabis use is on the rise in Canada. A 2019 survey found 16.8% of Canadians aged 15 or older used cannabis in the past three months and 6% reported daily or near daily use.

Lakshmi gave every appearance of being perfect. Her marks in undergraduate medical school were exceptional. She was intelligent, well prepared, charming and efficient. Always beautifully dressed, her hair was professionally blown out, her nails never ragged or chipped. Unlike the other often frazzled and sleep-deprived members of her resident cohort, she never looked flustered, exhausted and overworked.