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Abraar Karan Profile picture
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29 Oct, 4 tweets, 2 min read
1/ One of the big failures in our epidemic response is expertise that is rightfully concerned with all the nuances and details but fails to see the bigger picture— so many people in this country are still unclear on even the basic aspects of #covid19 transmission. #covid19
2/ Honestly I see this as a big disconnect between academia & every day people; I would be willing to bet the average person in this country doesn’t give a shit about how much contribution is from aerosols v droplets as much as they care about *what they need to do to stay safe*
3/ If even we as “experts” are unclear on the relative contributions of aerosols and droplets and we are recommending the same safety measures— let’s focus our energies hammering those home in more accessible and clever ways. We are at over 80k cases a day right now.
4/ As a doctor, my biggest concern right now is the hospitals being overstretched again. I have already been asked to be on backup call. Cases are going up by the day. Transmission is happening via both droplets & aerosols. Focus on big picture w/ unified messaging abt prevention

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More from @AbraarKaran

Abraar Karan Profile picture
29 Oct
THREAD
1/ Have seen comments floating around re whether the numbers used in this article are exactly correct or completely fit the epidemiology of spread etc; the footnotes clearly state these limitations, but beyond that, I think these folks are **missing the bigger picture**
2/ There are hundreds of thousands of people (if not more) in this country *right now* who don’t have a strong grasp of how this virus transmits at all.

It has been a failure of science communication at a time when we need it to work most. #covid19
2.5/ I think that *in part*, although not completely, explains the hesitancy & confusion re masking (when to mask, why to mask etc)

If people grasped transmission better, there would likely be fewer questions about the value of wearing masks & in which situations.
Read 9 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
28 Oct
The graphics in this article are excellent— this is a huge part of communications that has been missing. If you want to understand how layered interventions reduce #covid19 spread— why masks are indispensable but not always “enough” — read this.

english.elpais.com/society/2020-1…
2/ These graphics are *excellent*— and really hit on a MAJOR gap in our sci-comm for #covid19. Why are we relying on tweet threads to convey safety measures when we can have actual visuals/ audio etc?

Where are all the companies that work on this?
3/ If anyone is working on this type of graphic communication — including simple & digestible videos for the general public, please share your work or reach out to me — I’m personally happy to get involved to help with this. It’s so critical right now to get these messages out.
Read 7 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
26 Oct
There are many who have argued against mask mandates, citing that we don’t need masks in every single situation, esp outdoors. While this is true, leaving it up to people to interpret when to mask has also not worked out so well— to no fault of theirs- our messaging has failed
2/ Our messaging hasn’t been nuanced enough to help people understand viral transmission well enough that they always know when to mask v when not to mask.

And that behavior change takes time; unfortunately, we are once again out of time.
3/ At this point, the benefits of masking consistently will outweigh the costs. And as we hit winter, we will mostly be indoors where masking is most important anyways.

The one place that we will get hit hard I predict is *home based* transmission, where people aren’t masked.
Read 5 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
25 Oct
The coverage at the hospital is slim on the weekend meaning we have to double up shifts.

I spent the entire day caring for patients—just got home at 10 pm.

Watching Trump claim he can better determine the cause of death of patients that we actually watch die— vote him out.
2/ During #covid19 surges, many of us who were not supposed to even be on service at that time had been called back to the hospital bc that is where we needed to be. We put on whatever PPE we had access to, & we stuck by our oath to be there for our patients no matter what.
3/ We showed up & we’ll do it again if we need to. That’s not a question, or a hesitation— that’s a commitment. That’s a promise. Watching this man degrade us, accuse us of falsifying the causes of patient deaths— he has no respect for what doctors, nurses & patients went through
Read 8 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
24 Oct
Should we have a mask mandate? Yes. This should have happened a long time ago

Those arguing that outdoor transmission is far less than indoor as a reason against a mandate are often in my experience the same people who don’t wear masks in either location

cnn.com/world/live-new…
2/ For what it’s worth, I agree that outdoor transmission is far less than indoor— the data suggests this. Yet— I have encountered a number of people that happily mask outdoors to show others, but don’t when they are indoors at work etc— this is problematic.
3/ The least likely place to mask is probably inside one’s own home, yet we know that indoor transmission in households is relatively higher than in other locations. Ultimately, the safest bet is when you are outside your “bubble”, you stay masked unless completely alone outside
Read 4 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
22 Oct
1/ Probably the most common question I am asked by friends is whether or not it is "safe" to date during the pandemic.

While dating can be a high-risk activity, the cost of loneliness & missing social connection is also high.

@WebMD
webmd.com/lung/news/2020…
2/ Some may see it as ridiculous to even think about dating as we are headed into a third surge in this country; & while I get that sentiment, risk mitigation is still the name of the game. Otherwise, people may just do it anyway but without tools for safety, which hurts us all.
3/ The basics here are the same.

Outdoors over indoors. Minimizing number of contacts in your social circle. Using regular testing to minimize the chance that you are unknowingly infected/infectious. Trust, of course, is key.

And, throwing digital options in the mix as well.
Read 4 tweets

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