I feel like once I began to visualize the aerosols all around me, it helped me understand how to protect myself and others from COVID and other respiratory viruses. I think if more people understood this we might see greater uptake of basic clean air initiatives like N95 respirators, air purifiers and a demand for better clean air standards in public indoor spaces.
That's why I share the John
Snow Project videos any chance I get.
#COVIDisAirborne #Don'tBreatheItIn
johnsnowproject.org
🇳🇱
@biologgia frankly, I dont think people want to walk around in hazmat gear all day just to prevent minor illnesses.. Thats not a solution.
Now if we can improve our air filtration systems in spaces in a way that may reduce contaminants, and clean surfaces more often, that seems a bit more reasonable.
@freemo I didn't suggest hazmat suits, and that hyperbole is not helpful. Wearing a respirator is not a big ask - I use it every day for 8 hours, only taking it off for lunch outside. I'd rather not have to wear it, but it is necessary now.
Also, COVID is not a minor illness, especially the long-term consequences of a COVID infection. Learn the basics here: https://johnsnowproject.org/long-covid
Better indoor air quality standards are not coming anytime soon. So while rates of transmission and case counts are so high, using a respirator is the best way for people to protect themselves and others right now.
@biologgia I didnt say hazmat suits, I said hazmat gear... it isny hyperbole at all, a respirator is minimal hazmat gear. In fact the lowest level of hazmat doesnt even require a respirator, only higher levels.
COVID certainly can have serious repercussions for a small portion of the population. No one is saying that it cant.. but so can many viruses and bacteria. I have had COVID 6 times so far, confirmed, and it wasnt much of an issue. The mortality on COVID used to be rather high but now is about on par with the flu.
I am not saying we shouldnt take it seriously, we should, as we should the flu and many illnesses.. But walking around wearing respirators all the time for the rest of our lives is simply not reasonable reaction to the risks at this point IMO
@freemo @biologgia I'm going to wade in here because I have some thoughts. Generally speaking I don't bother, so take it for what it is @freemo, a chance at an academic discussion free of politics and whatnot.
One, I come from a personal standpoint where I used to work in a nuclear laboratory and I wore a full hazmat daily for a couple of years. Hazmat has a connotation that if it's not what you're intending, it comes off hyperbolic. I can understand your technical term, but, an N95 is not considered "hazmat" to the casual reader.
From that standpoint, and I admit that's not everyone's standpoint, an N95 is super easy. I've thrown one on every time I've gone out since I was horribly ill in December of 2019 and into January of 2020, and *irregardless of COVID* I've thoroughly enjoyed not having so much as minor sniffles in going on 3 years now and intend to keep it up. I can tell I'm healthier in my day to day life. This has led me to a lot of different decisions that I didn't anticipate, but that's a discussion for another day.
Two, my own personal experience tells me that people's immune systems are haywire right now. I don't keep a particularly large circle of friends and acquaintances, but almost every single one of them who has chosen to go on with life unimpeded has health issues right now ranging from sudden auto-immune issues to constant infections of other pathogens. The few of us who chose to be COVID cautious are 100% healthy.
This led me to do my own research as a non-medical or biologically inclined person. Thankfully my wife has a degree in neuroscience and is able to explain things to me I read in journals. What I found isn't exactly encouraging on the longterm health front, whether that's from acute issues(no, not a large percent of people die while actively sick with COVID, but multiply that times the number of infections and it's clearly an issue), post-acute issues(the raise in everything from inflammation to heart attacks to strokes to blood clots, etc. in the months after an infection), the outcomes of the people who had SARS-COV-1 or just constant reinfections.
It's not good to get a cold or the flu multiple times a year, so why would we, as scientists, fully abandon the precautionary principle here?
Sorry for the novel. I even pared it down a lot. I'm wordy...
@freemo @biologgia I want to add that I sincerely hope you're healthy and happy going forward @freemo. I'm not going to dismiss the idea of having COVID 6 times and self-reporting no issues as not being a valid data point. I just think that, in general, there's a lot you wouldn't really know yet in terms of longterm outcomes and I don't want to see anything bad happen to you because you seem like a pretty cool dude.
