"A renowned expert in air quality and health, Morawska, of the Queensland University of Technology, began contacting international colleagues. She eventually gathered 239 scientists globally to highlight the risk of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The public pressure eventually prompted the WHO and other authorities to update their public health guidelines. ... 'Science and scientists are nowhere near as listened to as in the past, and decisions are not based on science.' It is a problem she hopes to tackle by bringing scientists together as she did during the early years of the pandemic."
That feels like a lifetime ago, long forgotten by many, yet illnesses and death from Covid haven't retreated.
A US study tracked 150 million workers and absences "since the end of the so-called public health emergency in 2023" to find that absences continue to be 12.9% higher than before the pandemic. "Absences were highest in occupations with the greatest exposure to the public." And last month a global insurance firm "pegged that number of excess deaths at 2% above the pre-pandemic annual mortality rate. ... That's roughly the equivalent of two fully loaded standard commercial jets crashing and killing everyone aboard every day." They cited long Covid as a significant factor. Andrew Nikiforuk reports in The Tyee,
"These two realities underscore a fact that is scarcely mentioned in the media and has become politically unpopular to say. Nearly six years after the arrival of the Covid pandemic, the virus continues to undermine public health, rattle politics and unsettle the economy. ... Yaneer Bar-Yam, a complexity scientist and one of the founders of the World Health Network ... was one of the first to champion the importance of N95 masks in an airborne pandemic, and he was one of the first to warn about the long tail of pandemics. ... He thinks the fallout from repeated Covid infections poses a growing 'existential threat' to human health. He is encouraged by the belated recognition of Covid as an airborne disease, including new Canadian standards for masks in health-care settings. And he is deeply worried about new evidence on how children are affected by Long Covid. ... Every infection increases the risk for heart attacks, strokes and heart disease; for new-onset diabetes; for cognitive decline and dementia; for deregulating the immune system; and for reactivating viruses like Epstein-Barr or shingles. ... Researchers are now beginning to see a link between repeat Covid infections and rising cancer rates in young people. ...
A comparison of the two immune destabilizers [SARS-CoV-2 and HIV] helps us see something that public health discourse has largely neglected: 'We may be living through a slow-moving immune decline crisis. A recent Brazilian study also noted parallels to HIV and concluded 'that SARS-CoV-2 is ... a complex immunomodulator that targets central defense cells themselves. ... Brain fog is not a metaphor; it is evidence of structural loss. We see it in the research, and we see it around us. I have friends getting sick repeatedly, losing clarity, judgment and capacity. This threatens everything our societies depend on. After just a few years, the decline is visible. A few more, and large parts of the population may be too impaired to function effectively, leaving us without the collective ability to respond.'
No treatment currently exists for Long Covid, which affects millions of Canadians. 'But we do have prevention tools: clean indoor air, high-quality respirator masks, testing, and smart avoidance of exposure,' explains Bar-Yam. Vaccination won't stop transmission, but it still helps reduce severe acute disease. 'The tools are here. The question is: why we are choosing not to use them?' ... Respirators such as N95 masks need to be worn by health-care workers at all times in health-care facilities. The blue surgical masks known as 'splash guards' aren't good enough. ... Recent surveillance data from Canada's hospitals shows between 25 and 50% of patients hospitalized with Covid were infected inside health-care facilities over the last two years."
There are some good signs out there, places improving air quality in schools, and a few provinces have returned to proactive masking in hospitals: BC, NB, and PEI. Their premiers are in NDP, Liberal, and PC parties, respectively, so these changes can happen across party lines. Studies on N95s in hospitals show they cut infections by 35% for faster recovery of the primary issue. The article goes on to challenge the misperception that it's not affecting kids that much with studies showing kids develop Long Covid after one infection at a similar rate as adults (10-15%), and it can lead to increased risk of major health problems even two years after an acute infection. A second infection doubles the risk of Long Covid in kids, yet people would still rather let their kids get it over and over than insist masks be worn. The danger of social ostracism in school is more immediately worrisome effects than the danger of potentially profound and permanent health problems and disability. But the more we wear them to protect ourselves and others, the more normal and accepted it can become!
Andrew Wilkin in The Hamilton Spectator had a recent article listing some of the wins, noting that some agencies and organization are starting to act:
"Probably because hundreds of thousands of studies continue to show that Covid-19 is destructive for immediate and long-term health. Odds of getting Long Covid or some other health issue go up with every infection. ... It's changing an entire generation. People have lost housing because of Long Covid and are more likely to get Covid again if they are unhoused. ... Given the interconnected nature of society, in a public health crisis, there is no 'you do you' way out of this without cruel consequences for public good. ... Research has drawn similarities between the immune system harms of HIV/AIDS and Covid-19. ... Men's Health recently reported that the TikTok meme, 'The Lion Does Not Concern Himself,' is being used to highlight young people's experiences with brain fog. ... This individual suffering is not good for democracy. ... One-way masking is not as effective as when others mask. These workers in mostly women-dominated jobs no longer have access to CERB if they get Long Covid or any other harms from Covid-19, like cancers, strokes, infections, neurological issues and more. Workers' right to safe work and students' right to safe learning are being violated. ... Democratic governments and equitable public health must protect everyday people more than they protect private sector profits and declining public health standards, or they risk promoting fascist and eugenicist logic."
Covid is a health issue, but it's also a labour issue, an education issue, an equity issue, and a democratic issue. Surely we can all get on board with at least one of those provoking us to care! Help your neighbours stay alive with an N95!
If you need more, both Tom Hanks and Christina Applegate are still masking in public to keep themselves and others safe from a potentially disabling or fatal airborne virus.
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