A Concerned Scientist @BE@qoto.org

NC are proposing a bill to ban masks (including medical masks) in public settings. This is not only discriminatory - it’s dangerous. It’s removing the LAST tool we have to protect against COVID.

It also sets dangerous precedent & fuels damaging narratives about COVID.

The proposed bill would see all masks banned in public settings. If a person requires a mask - they would need to have a medical exemption. Disabled people are exhausted. We’ve been forced into dangerous situations for 4 years thanks to “you do you” COVID policy.

To now expect us to do additional work to procure a medical exemption just to be able to wear a respirator to help us prevent death or further disability? It’s unnecessarily cruel. Doctor’s appts & notes cost money. They’re not accessible to everyone.

COVID mitigation is already a significant social justice issue. By virtue of the fact our governments and public health have done nothing to protect people - individuals are left to procure protection for themselves. This protection isn’t affordable for everyone.

Respirators, HEPA filters, rapid tests, far UV… all these tools are out of financial reach for many people. We have fantastic organizations attempting to get respirators into the hands of those who need them - but some people are always left behind.

Now we’re adding an additional barrier by putting the burden of proof that a mask is required on the disabled individual. We’re forcing them to risk exposure to go to a doctor, spend money out of pocket for a note and then carry it around in the hopes they don’t get arrested?

If governments and public health would take Covid more seriously -
People wouldn’t need to don respirators nearly as often. But when the powers that be take away access to vaccines & anti-virals, refuse to clean the air, provide testing or paid sick leave? We have no choice.

Even if everything goes perfectly (which rarely happens) and a person has access to a respirator, can afford to see a doctor & obtain medical exemption… there’s still a good chance they’ll be forced to remove their mask while law enforcement analyze the exemption’s legitimacy

COVID infects extremely quickly. Breaking the seal on your respirator - even briefly - can result in infection. We’re asking people to jump through an inordinate amount of hoops and spend ridiculous amounts of money only to quite possibly end up infected anyways.

There’s also a bigger issue that stems from the idea that the “medically vulnerable” can and should obtain an exemption. It continues to drive the narrative that Covid is ONLY a threat to people who are already vulnerable. Which we know is untrue.

COVID is a multi system disease that has a 10% chance of causing disability. The odds of Long Covid go up with each infection. It’s not 10% in those that are already vulnerable - it’s everyone. Many young & healthy people have had their lives ruined by this disease.

The lie that only the vulnerable need to be concerned is one of the most devastating of the pandemic. People are getting infected over & over & think they’ve “gotten away with it”….When there’s good odds that they’ve got silent damage & their next infection will disable them

It also propagates the notion that the vulnerable are expendable. That it’s ok if we die or become further disabled because the rest of the world needs to “go back to normal”. There’s nothing normal about a society that turns its back on others.

This desperation to return to the way the world was in 2019 is quite literally killing people. It’s ruining lives. It’s dividing people, straining healthcare systems and causing long term health consequences that will have ripple effects for decades to come.

This NC bill to ban masks is just the latest in a string of terrible decisions that are costing lives. And it didn’t have to be this way. Had we admitted Covid was airborne and worked to implement clean air standards - we wouldn’t be in such a dire situation now.

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #ableism #Eugenics

Visualising #ClimateBreakdown…

We have to stop just talking numbers and get images and sensations into people’s heads.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/11/brutal-heatwaves-submerged-cities-what-3c-world-would-look-like

Is this a safe space to point out that the largest direct air capture plant in the world — designed to remove 36,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year — is a time machine that takes us back 28 seconds in a year? 🥲

https://wapo.st/3UTqMwC

LA Times: Despite H5N1 bird flu outbreaks in dairy cattle, raw milk enthusiasts are uncowed https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-05-12/raw-milk-enthusiasts-uncowed-by-bird-flu-risk-in-dairy #h5n1 #milk #birdflu #hpai

Anecdotally - it feels like I know way more people sick with respirator viruses right now than I have in a long time. None of them are testing for COVID and none seem to think it’s strange they’re so knocked down in May.

One of them just got over a terrible cough & loss of appetite that lasted 3 months starting in December …. And is already severely ill again.

Does anyone have any positive stories of people who suddenly got fed up being sick all the time and finally masked up again? Or came to you and asked for more information on Covid precautions? I’ve been brushed off just for suggesting they test … and it’s feeling pretty bleak.

I genuinely believed that when previously healthy people started getting sick over and over (and for long durations) they would start to question the narrative that COVID is over/mild. They would get curious. They would ask questions. None of that is happening.

It makes me very scared that it’ll never happen. That no amount of sickness or statistics will get people to reconsider their stance on Covid, masks and mitigations.

So if anyone has hopeful stories - I would love to hear them!

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #ableism

I could use some more suggestions for improving my #Italian : What #comics written by Italian authors do you recommend?

They should be reasonably popular so that I can get them in Germany without too much hassle.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in long #COVID: mechanisms, consequences, and potential therapeutic approaches

https://t.ly/zFOKl

"This review aims to synthesize current findings related to mitochondrial dysfunction in #longCOVID, exploring its implications for cellular energy deficits, oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, metabolic disturbances, and endothelial dysfunction."

@longcovid
#PwLC #PostCovidSyndrome #LC #PASC #postcovid
#CovidBrain #COVIDー19 #COVID19 #COVID_19 #SARSCoV2

Here's a gift link https://wapo.st/4btMo8Z

Got a bee in my bonnet yesterday to look at some specific climate data. I grew up in FL, so did my father, so did my grandfather. I was there for a historic freeze. We still visit, and one thing we've noticed is that it just plain seems more humid than I recall. Could be me, but there is data for that -- in the summer, the minimum temperature is the dew point, pretty much. So we can look at minimums, and it turns out there's a weather station near where I grew up with data from 1892...

Two weeks #PostCovid my sense of smell still hasn't come back.

I've been monitoring my #cardio #vitals (HR, RHR, HHR, O2 sat, BP (sys/dia)) and they're pretty good, despite inconsistent but persisting #fatigue - I tire easily. I haven't been "pushing" myself too much, but it doesn't take much to tire me out either.

My #HRH during "exertion" is slightly suspect. Lifting a 30lb suitcase was a near Herculean feat though my sleep has been off from travel which has an effect too, so who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

April 30, 2024 - “Our study indicates persistent viral presence in cardiac tissue, highlighting the importance of prioritizing long COVID in most patients with chronic conditions, including heart disease.” - https://cdt.amegroups.org/article/view/123848/html

Black Virginians are far more likely than white residents to get offered plea deals under the condition that they agree to waive some of their constitutional rights for years, opening them up to random and invasive police searches long after their cases have been resolved. https://boltsmag.org/fourth-amendment-waiver-virginia-police-traffic-stops/

Northern lights putting on a show in Europe, all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea! Live link: https://foto-webcam.eu 😍

Soliciting studies on dogs shedding #SARSCoV2 (how much, how long)

Two studies I found claim that of what dogs do shed, none is culturable/infectious

From September 2020:
"We also confirm an earlier report that dogs do not replicate virus in the upper respiratory tract [...]" (From September 2020)

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2013102117

Which cites (from April 2020):
"... infectious virus was not detected in any swabs collected from any of these dogs."

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abb7015