Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
Apr 17, 2021 13 tweets 13 min read Read on X
Because #COVIDisAirborne + Canada's worst-governed provinces are now in a massive 3rd wave, I decided to upgrade from mask to N95-style respirator.

Just in time, @cbcmarketplace lab-tested 14 available respirators. 7 passed. I found 3 in Calgary stores.

cbc.ca/news/canada/ma…
I am sharing my buying experience, including links and prices, to help others. H/T @RajBhardwajMD for the Marketplace story.

The new Variants of Concern are much more transmissible (stickier) than the coronavirus we encountered last spring. We need better than the usual masks.
Demand >> supply for true N95 respirators for healthcare workers exposed to infected people, so @cbcmarketplace looked at respirators meeting Chinese KN95 & Korean KF94.

These are now available because #ZeroCOVID countries no longer need as many.

blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-…
Lowes WORKPRO Respirator Mask Item 2500091
$20 for box of 10 = $2 each.

lowes.ca/product/workpr…

It just comes in a nondescript box of "Face Masks" but @cbcmarketplace found over 96% filtration of the key 0.3 µm size. Which meets China's GB2626 standard for KN95.
Depending on how much I get RT, this hidden gem currently has lots of stock in 2 cities I checked: Calgary & Toronto. Hope @Lowes_Canada can restock if there is a run on inventory.

See comparison to my current 2-layer cloth mask with disposable filter.

albertaapparel.com/collections/no…
I don't wear an N95 for work, and have only used them a few times during home renovations, so the experience was new.

It feels like wearing a suction cup, whereas my cloth mask felt like a tight scarf. Earloops are sturdy & tight.

Not unpleasant, just understandably different.
Costco MedSup Canada KN95 Item 2459197
$15 for box of 20 = $0.75 each (until 2 May 2021) in their weekly flyer.

Price increased in online catalog from $20 to $23 in last week 🤬 but "marked down" to $18 until 2 May. @cbcmarketplace @AshaTomlinson

costco.ca/kn95-disposabl…
I am not a Costco member, so do not have my own buying experience. Neither is my MD friend who asked me to look into it, because his patients ask him about it.

If anyone has bought them, please share pictures and your review, in the same or better way than I did.
Dollarama Medi Care KN95
$4 each sold in packages of 1 only.

IMHO, this is a ripoff, and takes advantage of people in poorer areas. It was also the most dangerous indoor place I have ever been in: masks 50% chinstrap, 50% dangling loose below nose.

@threadreader unroll
I feel bad for employees there, wearing cloth masks in that dangerous environment, while selling overpriced KN95 respirators.

Dollarama ended their COVID-19 pay raise in August. It cost only $11m of $139m Q2 profits; they earned $162m in Q3 without it.

cbc.ca/news/business/…
I did not buy the Dollarama KN95, instantly regretted walking into the store, and got out as fast as I could after taking the photo.

@threadreaderapp unroll please
Here is a picture sent to me today from Costco in Calgary Sunridge. See above in thread for details.

(BTW, 1.7 km of Lowe’s in Calgary Sunridge).

@ChahalGeorge

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More from @ZiadFazel

May 25
This @NewsHour story too new to have transcript as well as published video interview with Dr @jasonmnagata but here's his website for his research:

ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/providers/dr-j…

@tylerblack32 @TheBreakdownAB @KmarkovCTV @picardonhealth @JenLeeCBC @MurrayManera @JSJamato @gabefabreau x.com/NewsHour/statu…
Didn't have room for @TehseenLadha @orlaghokelly @John1MD @dupuisj @vettergreenart
@TehseenLadha @orlaghokelly @John1MD @dupuisj @vettergreenart @threadreaderapp unroll please

The transcript is up now at:



@tylerblack32 @TheBreakdownAB @KmarkovCTV @picardonhealth @JenLeeCBC @MurrayManera @JSJamato @gabefabreau @drDavidKeegan @amandalhu @CalgarysChild @MarciaOnTheGo pbs.org/newshour/show/…Ali Rogin:  Dr. Nagata, thank you so much for joining us. Social media children, lots of questions, few answers. What did your study find? Jason Nagata:  We followed 12,000 preteens over three years and we actually found big rises in social media use. So during that period, social media on average increased from seven minutes a day to over 70 minutes a day. So a tenfold increase.  And in our analysis, we actually found that rises in social media from year to year among these 9 then 10 then 11-year olds were actually associated with future depressive symptoms in the following year. So I thin...
Ali Rogin:  So what you're saying is that you found the correlation here to be with social media use leading to more depressive symptoms, not the other way around. You're saying that depression doesn't necessarily indicate use of social media? Jason Nagata:  Yes. In our study, were able to follow these same 12,000 kids year to year. So were able to look at both their depression and their social media use every single year. And so we could look at patterns in their use. And we found that those kids who had big spikes in their social media use from year to year then subsequently had bigger sp...
Ali Rogin:  And talk to us about the size and the scope of this study. This sounds massive. How did you track this many children and has that been done before? Jason Nagata:  So, yeah, the data comes from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. It is a national study that follows these 12,000 kids from over 21 different states, study sites across the U.S. and it's funded by the National Institutes of Health and is I think one of the largest studies on child development and social media and brain health ever.
Ali Rogin:  That's such a fascinating ancillary piece of information that you found in looking at this data. I do want to ask though, what is your advice for parents with the understanding that this data brings us to. Jason Nagata:  Yeah, we actually looked at parent actions for rules and monitoring in the study and we actually found that the biggest predictors of kids screen use was actually their parents screen use. And as a new parent I think it's really important to practice what you preach. So if you're going to tell your kids to put down their phones to important that you role model g...
Read 4 tweets
May 8
🧵 Alberta's Reigning Queen of deceptive cherry-picked public health stats, Health Min LaGrange, was back at it Monday, this time over measles immunization.

Bonus Topic: Where is the source for the widespread claim that airborne measles is only infectious up to two (2) hours? Screenshot from Goa 5 May 2025 press release, where Health Min LaGrange made the same claim in the YouTube press conference:  [below is the quote verbatim, but I would put sarcastic quotes around "facts"] "Quick facts • Currently, appointments in the central zone are available within one day, while in the south zone appointments are available usually within one to two days. • Following increased efforts to educate Albertans on measles and the importance of immunization, there has been a significant rise in immunizations across the province. Since March 16, there has been a 67...
Excerpt from GoA lengthy web page on measles  "How measles spreads  Measles is an extremely contagious disease, spread easily through the air.  You do not need to be in direct contact with someone who is infected. You can get measles just by passing through a room or location where a person who is infected was up to 2 hours before. The person who is infected does not still need to be there to put you at risk of disease.  Measles can also be spread through coughing, sneezing, yelling, singing and breathing."
@TheBreakdownAB @JMeddings @PfParks @LukaszukAB @JenLeeCBC @GosiaGasperoPhD @Mark_Ungrin @dupuisj @DrFiliatrault @TimmCTV Let me provide the links for the above two graphics:

• cherry-picked measles immunization stats

alberta.ca/release.cfm?xI…

• purported 2-hour limit on infectious airborne measles

alberta.ca/measles
@TheBreakdownAB @JMeddings @PfParks @LukaszukAB @JenLeeCBC @GosiaGasperoPhD @Mark_Ungrin @dupuisj @DrFiliatrault @TimmCTV On the deceptive, cherry-picked measles immunization stats, LaGrange said "Since March 16, there has been a 67% increase in comparison to last year."

Let's look at actual graphs & data tables.

alberta.ca/measles#jumpli… "Figure 2a. Measles containing immunization doses administered by week and geography, 2023-2025 for Alberta" showing the 2025 line does not cross over 2023 and 2024 lines until 16 March 2025.  Prior to that, 2025 was well below both 2024 and 2023.
Closeup of graph, showing the yellow 2025 line does not cross over black 2023 and red 2024 lines until 16 March 2025.  Prior to that, 2025 was well below both 2024 and 2023.
Closeup of graph, highlighting the yellow 2025 line to show better that it does not cross over black 2023 and red 2024 lines until 16 March 2025.  Prior to that, 2025 was well below both 2024 and 2023.
Data table for GoA's graph, showing the actual numbers of measles immunization shots per week in those 3 years.
Read 42 tweets
Apr 24
I was just treated TERRIBLY by @HyattCalgary. Manager just denied me service in restaurant for some vague reasons behind:

“None of the staff are comfortable with you and want to serve you.”

Huh? You just lost polite, loyal 20% tip customer. Maybe my friends too.

See you never.
The VP who oversees the restaurant was not on, but I left my business card.

My @Hyatt loyalty card, which shows zero as it has not updated for my purchases since February, when my car died, and I found walking there convenient. High prices, but matching food & service (!) Image
@Hyatt Now, I don’t care about my points, as I will never visit @HyattCalgary again, for any reason.

I won’t spend much time with the VP if he or she calls me. This is their problem to solve, not mine. I’ll get nothing from it either way - I’m gone.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 22
Dear @CalgaryPolice and other smart people. I'm looking for 2 things:
• video of press conference and written response by Chief @neufeld_mark to Dreeshen's stupid announcement early Dec 2024
• GoA policy & evidence to get sites approved for photo radar

calgary.ca/cps/traffic/ph… x.com/DevinDVote/sta…
@CalgaryPolice @neufeld_mark I didn't know until now of this formal 12-month pilot while looking for more information related to my witnessing a cop nearly killed on Centre Street @ Samis Road on Sat night by a speeder who pulled over, then zoomed away.

@reportrix @MBellefontaine

cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…
@CalgaryPolice @neufeld_mark @reportrix @MBellefontaine I always knew Dreeshen's announcement, served in a "No Cash Cow" BBQ apron with Beef on a Bun for reporters, was colossally stupid.

I learned it kicked in on 1 April.

Will talk on record about my direct personal experience from this Saturday night.

Read 4 tweets
Apr 7
🧵I live dangerously. Last night I was on the Red Line headed north from Somerset, shortly after the après-Flames crowd had thinned.

I threw on my respirator as I boarded (measles is transmitted by aerosol, as are COVID and influenza and RSV, etc)

You know where this goes…
A fellow train rider already seated 1 m away to my left took issue with it, even though (I swear) I did not offer him a respirator to wear.

So, even if I were to believe Droplet nonsense, we were within each other’s 2 m ABSOLUTELY SAFE SOCIAL DISTANCING MINIMUM.

Chatty fellow.
He asked me if I was aware “that f-ing thing did nothing for me.”

As I had not reviewed the gentleman’s curriculum vitae before our impromptu debate, I chose to nod, in submission to his likely superior IPAC gravitas.
Read 24 tweets
Mar 14
🧵Respected Alberta political scientist @DuaneBratt posted in the friendlier place this same-day review of Health Min LaGrange's Statement of Defence in wrongful termination lawsuit from fired AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos.

I have some thoughts too...

skyview.social/?url=https%3A%…
@DuaneBratt AB Justice Minister posted a link to the Statement of Defence from the Dropbox of a Heather Jenkins, who appears to be the Ministry's Press Secretary.

alberta.ca/news-spokesper…

x.com/mickeyamery/st… Screenshot of Min Amery's link showing the Statement of Defence on Heather Jenkins' Dropbox.
Screenshot from GoA "Media Inquiries" page showing role of Ms Jenkins.
@DuaneBratt GoA is again using external counsel rather than (excellent) in-house lawyers, just as they did in CM v Alberta in 2022, when LaGrange was Minister of Education.

Taxpayers paid for their representation + Justice Dunlop's penalty to pay Plaintiff's Costs.

canlii.org/en/ab/abkb/doc…Style of Cause for CM v Alberta Ruling on costs, from CanLII link in my tweet.
Scathing conclusion from Justice Dunlop's ruling, same link.
Read 24 tweets

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