We CAN Reduce Illnesses!

The WHO is trying to encourage masking again, but their ads show people in surgical masks (should be at least an N95), and they keep focusing on "crowded indoor spaces" as if spacing a few feet from people makes a difference with an airborne virus. But at least they're not still telling us that hand washing is enough. Baby steps. 

But some people still haven't got the message.

In this interview with Erica Stanford, New Zealand MP, she makes the political obliviousness to solutions so crystal clear. Teachers are already falling ill enough for schools to be closed at the very beginning of their winter (from about 8 to 12 minutes):

She tries to fix the problem with sick teachers by throwing more supply teachers at the school, NOT by maybe preventing illnesses in the first place. With the interviewer's cajoling, she acknowledges that teachers have the highest cases of covid than any other profession because they're surrounded by sick kids. At 10 minutes in:

Interviewer: "Do you think there is a risk that in trying to avoid disruption, trying to get more kids back in schools . . . you will inadvertently create more disruption by having more illness?"

Stanford: "What would you say I should do next? . . . I don't have a magic bullet!!" 

She pretty much threw up her hands because kids staying home more often "is not an option for this government."

It's really, really unfortunate that the interviewer didn't ask about cleaning the air or encouraging masks to prevent illness. After 12 minutes, she talks about needing charter schools to allow choice if the state school next door to your house is crap, and trans education being left up to parents, so, ya. 

In the UK, teachers with Long Covid have banded together to sue ministers in a class action lawsuit for being having lost their health, income and employment due to working conditions, but, of course, they'd have to prove they got sick from all the sick kids facing them each day and not at a random store. People working in education "showed the highest likelihood of having Long Covid symptoms," but, okay, maybe the grocery store is to blame for the 56% increase in illness in only teaching staff??? 

Meanwhile, engineer Adam Wong wrote about pig farms:

"Recently there is lots of news about pig farms installing Controlled Mechanical Ventilation System. It help the pigs to get less respiratory disease, and proved to be economical. So more and more pig farms are installing it. Meanwhile tens of our kids stay in a small classroom for the whole day without a ventilation or filtration system, exchanging Covid, influenza, RSV, whooping cough and etc. How come? . . . They are very simple and not expensive devices."

I know we all love bacon, but do we really value it over the lives of children?? 

And a few people are discussing a new toy that's less than the cost of a PS5 and could dramatically solve all these problems: Pluslife Mini Dock (info here). Plug it in, and the whole family or classroom or emergency department can test to find out why they have a runny nose or fever, or, if they feel perfectly healthy, whether or not they should visit grandpa. It just requires 400 copies of a virus to detect which one it is out of Covid, Influenza A or B, or RSV. 

Take a minute to read through this long thread describing the experience of being immunocompromised at a time when masks suddenly became absolutely vilified. Then consider getting back in the habit of wearing a mask when you're in public places.

"It took me years to admit I was disabled. I was scared of judgement and discrimination. But even my worst fears didn’t come close to what I feel now. I’ve never been more scared, and it’s not fear of Covid. I’m afraid of the rise of eugenics, anger, and where society is headed. 

I’ve known we live in an ableist society all my life - but I underestimated the depth of hatred and lack of empathy. The pandemic ripped masks off people and revealed their true selves, and far too often the “true self” was someone who couldn’t care less about helping fellow humans. Nowhere has this been more obvious than mask mandates. Because I was someone who needed to mask before the pandemic - I’ve had a rather unfortunate front row seat to the change in behaviour towards people who mask. The worst I ever encountered in the before times was an odd glance or maybe a chuckle. After mask mandates it became sneers and threatening stares. Then the shouts of “do not comply”. Then the spitting, and finally threats of ripping the mask off my face. 

I’m housebound and quite ill - so I only leave my home for necessary hospital visits. The fact that I’ve had more than one negative interaction when wearing my mask is truly appalling. I’m not going into places of entertainment or recreation - I’m going TO THE HOSPITAL. Eventually I learned to ignore it - to steel myself against the hatred the way I’ve learned to steel myself against all the ableism in society. But things didn’t stop there. As anti-mask sentiment grew it became harder to access safe healthcare. In the before times if a HCW saw my mask they almost always put one on in return - without my needing to ask. If I asked - they never said no. Since Covid I’ve only been in hospitals with mask mandates and still I’ve been scolded and accused of “anxiety” for asking HCW to mask. The final straw was last week when I heard that North Carolina are attempting to make wearing a medical mask in public an actual crime. When I heard that Ohio have been charging people with felonies for masking and that a patient was kicked out of an ER for requesting HCWs mask. 

I’ve tried to be a good sport. I’ve been “just staying home” for 4.5 years. But when I can’t even access medical care safely? Then I get angry. Imagine a life where the ONLY place you ever get to go is the hospital - only to have it be the most dangerous place for you? I’m already trapped in a body that no longer functions - desperately trying to maintain what little independence and health I have left. It’s not an easy existence yet I’m grateful EVERY day for what health I DO have. I don’t appreciate having to risk it to get medical care. When I try to advocate for masks in hospitals and clean air standards, I’m once again told to “just stay home”. People seem to lack so much empathy that they can’t realize telling someone to stay home from the hospital is akin to telling them to die. Criminalizing medical masks in public and kicking patients out of ER is akin to telling them to die. You don’t need to say the actual words - actions speak louder. Lately both words and actions have sent a very clear message: I’m expendable. A burden. And people don’t care if I die. All of the above would be a lot for any person to cope with - let alone a person who’s extremely unwell. But I kept trying. Kept advocating. Kept sharing stories. It didn’t break me. 

What broke me was the attitude of the general public in response to the mask bans. Seeing so many perfectly healthy people celebrating the possibility that those of us most at risk might lose our last line of defence. That’s what broke me. It’s not silent complicity; people are reacting with glee. They see it as a comeuppance for having been forced to mask. We push back and once again we’re told to “just stay home”. Told we deserve it and that it’s our fault because mandates violated their autonomy. That we deserve to have ours violated in return. As though having to wear a mask is the same as forced infection with a virus. 

As upset as I am - I will keep fighting. Because those people who are so happy about mask bans? Who don’t want us to have safe access to healthcare? They’re wrong. They don’t see it but others do, and the more we shine light on this hatred, the more good and kind allies we’ll get. Being asked to wear a mask at the height of a global pandemic is not and was never a violation of bodily autonomy. There’s zero risk in wearing a mask. It doesn’t come with health risks and in fact offers protective benefit against diseases, allergens, smoke and more. Mandates were necessary because hospitals were overwhelmed with people who were dying. Maybe instead of complaining about having to put a mask on you could be grateful it wasn’t yourself or a loved one struggling to breathe in the ICU. And if wearing a mask is the most egregious thing you’ve ever been through, you should consider yourselves lucky. So many of us would LOVE to have wearing a mask be our most difficult problem. 

Lastly - you exist in a society. In society there are rules that govern acceptable behaviour, and those rules are designed to benefit the collective whole. That’s what mask mandates were. They were always going to be temporary and have long since been lifted. Let it go. Mask bans on the other hand have the potential to create tremendous harm. They will cost lives. They will result in people like me being unable to access healthcare. They will result in arrests and trauma that disproportionately impact marginalized individuals. Everyone saying this is about “no amnesty”, vengeance and payback need to take a long hard look in the mirror. You’re seeking vengeance against disabled and high risk people for a measure that was done to SAVE lives. It’s truly absurd, and it needs to be called out. It needs to stop. 

To everyone else who’s having a hard week like me - I see you and my heart is with you. We will get through this together. We’ve got wonderful allies fighting with us who see this vile behaviour for what it is - escalating eugenics. We are NOT expendable. So stand tall and strong and don’t let the bullies win. We have nothing to apologize for. If wearing a mask was truly that problematic for those individuals they were just as free to “just stay home” as we are. They’ve no more rights to safely access spaces than we do. I’m inspired and proud of every person I see on here still fighting, still advocating and still sharing stories. You give me strength to keep going and we will make it through this." 

We have all the tools we need to make for a healthier society, to help the least fortunate among us, and boost the flippin' economy if that's what's important. We just need to be willing to use them.