Eris, Fornax, and a Hopeful Petition

There's a Canadian petition circulating that acknowledges that vaccinations don't completely eliminate the danger of Covid, and Covid continues to put a unsustainable strain on health care, so they're asking for enforced air quality standards for all public buildings, two weeks of universal paid sick leave, and mask mandates in all indoor public spaces among other things. 

I signed it, but I imagine it won't go far. It's a start to get a discussion going, at least, but I'm not clear how well the federal government can override healthcare issues provincially.

I like the idea of masks everywhere again, but nobody's going to mandate them in places people typically eat or drink. It might be an idea to suggest masks only in buildings people have to enter, like hospitals and schools, but workers have to enter the bars and restaurants they work at, so that gets complicated.

Without question, we need to immediately mandate masks in all healthcare settings, absolutely, and - what the hell - how about we make that permanent. Some doctors and nurses online are talking about areas of hospitals like the NICU full of preemies, and the oncology wards, where all staff used to wear masks all the time, and now nobody does (typically with the exception of the OP). Dentists offices as well - many used to mask regularly and now everyone just stopped as if they've forgotten that it was standard practice for decades prior to 2020. 

It's bizarre.

And we need clean air in schools. WRDSB has been working on taking HEPAs out as they upgrade ventilation (see meeting from mid-June) as if filtration and ventilation are the same thing. They're not. They're two separate layers of precautions that reduce viral loads in workplaces. So don't bother calling if the HEPA's unplugged and gathering dust in a corner because it's likely surplus anyway! 

We need to get the kids back in masks. Children are the biggest vector of spread, bringing the virus home from school, getting sick over and over, and giving it to their families. When we're unmasked together, we're only ever as safe as the least-safe person in the room. Either we have kids in masks in class, or we need to all mask in our homes. Only the former option makes logistical sense.

In BC, Bonnie Henry actually said right out loud that we need people to wear masks when in crowded indoors spaces, you know, like in schools!!  

The word "crowded" in there means she hasn't gotten the memo that catching the virus indoors doesn't typically come from the person closest to you, but from the air in general. That's why CO2 monitors are a useful guestimation of the relative safety of the room. I'd rather be next to someone unmasked in a room with CO2 at 400 ppm, than be next to the only masked person in a room at 2,700 ppm, when everyone's basically breathing in each other's lung backwash. 

Many articles about a newer variant, Eris, or EG.5, claim that it won't be more severe than the current variants, but neglect to mention that it can still cause Long Covid. The acute phase of the disease is not my biggest concern! 

A recent study of over 20,000 people that were almost all triple vaccinated and caught Covid, found that almost 20% had Long Covid after 90 days. The average number of distinct symptoms per person was six! Almost 20% of them had to completely stop work/school because of the illness. 

It's still good to get the next vaccine this fall, as it reduces the severity of acute symptoms. But it's not enough protection to prevent Long Covid. Individuals in the study with three doses were 40% more likely to have Long Covid than those with four or more vaccinations, so there's a little more motivation for you. 

Carly Severn wrote about Eris and rising numbers again. Eris is growing in Ontario:

And Erin Prater wrote that another, FL.1.5.1, or Fornax, which is dominating New York, with the expectation that numbers will be very high by November. We can likely expect another tripledemic of Covid, flu, and RSV, or a quademic if we add in strep.

"In short, the damned thing's still very much with us."