The Current

The Current for Oct. 6, 2020

Today on The Current: Trump leaves hospital, downplaying COVID-19, Dakshana Bascaramurty on what she learned about living from a dying man, COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy, Canadian snowbirds deciding whether to fly south or hibernate for winter.
Matt Galloway is the host of CBC Radio's The Current. (CBC)

Today on The Current

U.S. President Donald Trump left hospital Monday night, downplaying COVID-19 despite 210,000 American deaths. We talk to Dr. Abraar Karan of Harvard Medical School, and the CBC's Paul Hunter about the president's diagnosis, and what it means for the coming election and health policy in the U.S.

Plus, when Globe and Mail reporter Dakshana Bascaramurty hired Layton Reid as a wedding photographer, she didn't expect him to become a friend. She also never thought she would document his battle with cancer, the end of his life and the impact on the young family he left behind. She and Reid's wife, Candace Weaver, discuss their journey and Bascaramurty's new book, This Is Not The End of Me: Lessons on Living from a Dying Man.

Also, would you take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it became available? Fewer than half of respondents to a recent Angus Reid poll said yes, but to be effective in a pandemic, a vaccine requires uptake. Dr. Cora Constantinescu takes us inside the fight against vaccine hesitancy in Canada, which she says starts with a conversation.

And with the land border between Canada and the U.S. still closed, Canadian snowbirds are asking: should we stay or should we go? We talk to Tamara Carmichael and Rachel Leroux about whether they'll fly south this year, or hibernate here.

Full Episode Transcript