https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/how-denial-of-airborne-covid-transmission-broke-the-world/?s=09

Respirators are so effective that United Kingdom research has indicated their use by the public would have dropped the rate of COVID transmission by an estimated factor of 9, compared with 0.6 for surgical masks. A factor of 9 is enough to put SARS-COV-2 into exponential decay, meaning the virus would have been highly suppressed for as long as respirator use continued. The exponential math of viral spread also means that perfect masking compliance would not have been required to achieve suppression.

@maskup

My covid exposure story.

So last Wednesday, I had close exposure to someone with #Covid. She had a sore throat, but I didn't know it. We were all masked. I had an N95 mask on, and she and her friend wore KN95s. We were in our car together, windows closed, for more than 30 minutes. She felt full on sick on Thursday and really sick on Friday. She tested positive on Monday. I got tested yesterday and the PCR test came back negative today. 1/2 #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne

COVID minimizers have said for years that “if” it was that dangerous we would see increases in other illnesses

We’re at that stage, and no one is talking about it. Deny. Deflect. Obfuscate.

“Other illnesses that weaken the immune system and allow latent TB infections to emerge may also be at play”

https://www.newser.com/story/366057/tb-cases-spike-to-highest-level-since-2011.html

New York Governor Hochul is trying to sneak a mask ban into the budget, despite the opposition of many disabled & high risk people who NEED masks to safely access public spaces.

Criminalizing masks during an airborne pandemic, while measles is on the rise, is dangerous, ableist & eugenicist.

Call and email elected officials and tell them you oppose mask bans and that medical exemptions are NOT sufficient

https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochul-is-pushing-a-last-minute-subway-mask-ban-in-state-budget-talks

Mask bans already exist in certain States and counties.

Vance spearheaded a federal ban on mask mandates.

Organizing to codify the right to wear medical masks and respirators is (sadly) needed.

Masking is community care and resistance.

Illinois attempting to codify right to mask into law:

https://pmefa.org/

This is why respirators need to be mandatory in hospitals.

Babies, people with certain disabilities & some health conditions need others to mask to protect them.

This hospital shouldn’t be “scrambling”. Make masks mandatory & protect patients and staff.

Clean & ventilate the air too!

It’s International Long Covid Awareness Day, and my latest article looks at the reasons why people believe they don’t know anyone with Long Covid.

We desperately need increased visibility into this debilitating chronic illness so that we can raise awareness and fund treatments, mitigations and cures.

Anyone can get Long Covid. It’s not limited to ‘only the vulnerable’ or those who had a severe initial infection.

This disease does not discriminate. Even people with asymptomatic initial infections have found themselves disabled by Long Covid.

It’s time we start processing the trauma of the pandemic and stop living in denial.

We are in the middle of a mass disabling event, and the longer it takes us to admit that, the more people will be harmed.

Let’s spread the word that the only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid getting Covid in the first place.

Wear a mask. Stay home when sick. Clean and ventilate the air.

When we all agree to care about the air we share, we can begin to bring about real change.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

I wrote a guest article for Healthy Debate that looks at why we need mandatory masks in healthcare, why surgical masks aren’t enough, and how the mounting threats to public health are putting lives at risk.

If you’re a healthcare worker, mask up.

Show us you take your oath to “do no harm” seriously

https://healthydebate.ca/2025/03/topic/wear-mask-plea-health-care-workers/

Today marks the five year anniversary of Covid being declared a pandemic. Some things I want people to remember:

The threat is not gone. People are still dying and becoming disabled every single day

COVID is airborne. It’s always been airborne. Droplet transmission was pushed incorrectly & then doubled down on for economic reasons. If governments admit it’s airborne, they have to spend money upgrading air quality and providing respirators etc.

The only way to avoid Long Covid is to not get Covid.

A well fitted respirator like an N95 offers excellent personal protection

Mask mandates belong in healthcare

If you’re not masking for your patient, you’re abdicating your responsibility to do no harm

It costs nothing to open a window and it will improve ventilation and reduce odds of viral spread. Air purifiers work well too

COVID is a social justice issue. Masks, tests, air filters, paid time off… these things all cost money. The disease disproportionately impacts those who are most vulnerable and multiple marginalized

Repeat infections don’t make you stronger. They don’t give you immunity. They actually harm your brain, heart and immune system. They’re also NOT inevitable

Kids are harmed by COVID too. They need the adults to protect them. We need clean in schools and on school buses

We went “back to normal” for capitalism. It wasn’t because it was safe. It wasn’t because there was a cure. Governments and those in power Are willing to sacrifice us to keep end stage capitalism afloat a little longer

Repeat infections are NOT inevitable. We can still curb the spread. We don’t have to accept constant sickness and disability as our new normal.

May we be in a much better place five years from now than we are today.

If you know someone suffering from Long Covid, reach out to them. Ask them how you can support them. Remind them they’ve not been forgotten. Wear a mask for them. They are counting on you.

For years, folks looked the other way as millions died or became disabled by Covid. They shouted “your health is not my responsibility” or “only the vulnerable” were at risk.

This callous disregard for human life has desensitized us. It helped pave the way for the current atrocities.

You can’t label a group of people expendable and not have it change you.

You can’t turn away in the face of evil and not pay a price.

Wear a mask. Protect one another. Resist.

Stand up for anyone & everyone who’s different than you. Fight for their rights.

Don’t wait until it happens to you.

Pandemics change people. We aren’t used to dealing with the mass death, disability & uncertainty that comes with them.

Unfortunately due to technology & misinformation, society is choosing NOT to process its collective trauma.

Most people are firmly in denial about COVID, and many are grasping on to conspiracy theories and harmful rhetoric in order to return to their 2019 version of “normal”.

That denial is changing us. Refusing to deal with trauma has consequences.

We’re becoming more detached, reckless and apathetic.

There’s still time to change. It starts with acknowledging that the threat has not passed and we all need to do our part to protect our health & the health of those around us.

We have to begin to adapt so that we can heal.

“I don’t know anyone with Long Covid!”

I promise you that you do.

Long Covid is an invisible illness. You won’t know someone is impacted unless they choose to tell you.

Many folks hide their disabilities because the world is NOT kind to disabled people. Be an ally. Be someone we can confide in.

Also, allow for the possibility that the person with Long Covid could be you.

We’ve done a terrible job educating people on what long COVID is & how it presents. Denial runs deep. people have it & either don’t know it or are writing it off as aging, menopause, stress etc.

My next article will focus on Long Covid awareness, politicization and denial.
#longcovid #covidisairborne #covidisnotover #disability #ableism #chronicillness

It’s hard to believe it’s been half a decade since the first cases of Long Covid were reported

I remember reading about it and thinking that the sheer size & scope of the problem would mean real progress in the treatment and recognition of complex chronic illness.

As someone who was suffering from POTS and MCAS, I had hope that COVID would mean medical breakthroughs. Better treatment. Faster time to diagnosis. More effective preventative care. Perhaps even a cure.

I was so wrong.

I’ve watched as Long Covid patients experience the same gaslighting, mistreatment and diagnostic delays as those who came before them.

Not only have we not seen improvements in the way chronic illness patients are treated, we now have 400 million MORE sick patients and nowhere near enough doctors to treat them.

Wear a mask. Protect your health. Support people with disabilities. We need it.