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.

Five years ago today, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Here's a @Flipboard Storyboard looking at that day. Plus, some of the things that have happened since, from the emergence of long COVID to how Africa defied dire predictions of a catastrophic loss of life.

https://flipboard.com/@health/five-years-of-covid-19-5nfre7m85qh3uc4v

Today is WHO Covid19 Pandemic day.: the World Health Organization declared COVID a pandemic on this day five years ago.

We're celebrating with The Invisible Shield, a four-part docuseries about how public health systems work (and don't work) -- and how public health workers are unsung heroes.

It's a great teaching tool for exploring the complex systems of public health and igniting student interest in public health careers.

Get our free learning guide for grades 11-12, higher education, community groups, and general public use.

https://journeysinfilm.org/product/invisible-shield/

#PublicHealth #Pandemic #CovidIsNotOver #Covid19PandemicDay #StemEducation #Education #Homeschooling #CTE @education @edutooters @stemed @film

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.

Never underestimate the power of wearing a mask. It’s a simple and safe act of compassion, resistance and self care.

Sick of being sick? Wear a mask.

Have a vulnerable loved one you want to protect? Wear a mask.

Work in healthcare and want to protect your patients? Wear a mask.

Want to fight fascists? Wear a mask.

Worried about low vaccination rates bringing back measles, polio and other eradicated diseases? Wear a mask.

Want to resist and keep your activism virus free? You guessed it, wear a mask.

When worn correctly, they’re highly effective. Trump and Vance are as anti-mask as they come, so we need as many people as possible masking in solidarity.

Let’s keep people healthy while normalizing them as an important tool in the fight against disease AND fascism.