This whole paragraph is incorrect. Aerosol spread has been shown to be dominant, from well before Nov 2020. In fact, there is no evidence for droplet spread, and minimal evidence for contact. 2/ cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
Incorrect. The new guidance says: a medical mask or a respirator, not just a medical mask. A respirator (aka N95/KN95/elastomeric) is a much better fitting mask than a surgical mask and will be much better protection when exposed to virus in aerosols. 3/ canada.ca/en/public-heal…
Why is considering a respirator important? The document specifically IDs fit as an important quality. It is worth noting Alberta has never recommended respirators for the public. And never for its staff, except in rare magical situations known as AGMPs 3/
This PCRA (point of care risk assessment) is supposed to allow HCWs to judge risk. But HCWs have never ever ever been told of the dangerous of airborne transmission or the factors that might make it more likely. How can they accurately assess risk without training? 4/
There are no other industries that would ask a worker to take responsibility for their own safety.Imagine a construction worker being told"decide if you need to wear a hard hat in this situation".Or an asbestos worker which situations to wear a mask with. esp. without training 5/
Reference please?
Vaccines are an important tool. One where those 5-11 won't be fully protected for a min. of 10 wks from now (2 doses 8 wks apart +2 wks). Why can't we better protect them until then? Remove mask exemptions. Allow filtration systems. Improve TTI. Allow mass rapid tests. fin/
It's out! The @WHO's new wordsmithing report on airborne transmission. I'm going to do a little dissection on the good and the bad, who wins and who loses. 1/ cdn.who.int/media/docs/def…
the TLDR is: "through the air" is the old "droplet" and "airborne" transmission modalities combined. "inhalation" is the new "airborne". "direct deposition" is the new "droplet" 2/
The great: finally an acknowledgment that short-range airborne transmission is an integral component of all (not just COVID) airborne transmission. This is huge. It means that workers esp. HCWs need respirator masks (FFP2/3, N95) when interacting with concerning patients. 3/
Apparently many in the Canadian ID community on this platform are weighing in that paxlovid should no longer be recommended to high-risk (elderly, immunocompromised) outpatients with confirmed covid.
I think we should take a look at the evidence they've presented.
(a thread) 1/
So far there has been no evidence presented, none, except for the blogpost posted in the first tweet.
No peer reviewed science. At all.
And a reminder that there are still >500 inpts in Alberta with covid, and 10-20 patients dying each week (all likely high risk patients).
2/
Another reminder is I reviewed the paxlovid evidence in a thread a few weeks ago, in response to a paxlovid-minimizing news story by @LaurenPelley of @CBCNews.
You can check out the thread here: 3/
At least @ChrisVarcoe mentioned the climate crisis concerns this time.
"The oil and gas industry is the largest emitting sector in Canada. The Liberal government has introduced a series of policies as concerns around climate change mount" 2/
But this is sloppy and "news release" journalism:
"CAPP noted emissions from the conventional oil and gas sector fell by 24 per cent, while production grew by 21 per cent between 2012 and 2021."
How many ways does this article anger me?
Let me count the ways...
#debunktionjunktion
(although, honestly, fighting @calgaryherald on climate issues is rather pointless, in the past @ChrisVarcoe has often been better than this)
Thread calgaryherald.com/opinion/column…
1) I realize I'm like a broken record. But having an article, on a climate issue, without mentioning the word "climate" once, is not cool. Of course people don't want to do hard things, unless they know why they need to do it. (see search in upper left corner)
2) Zero interviews from anyone, aside from the federal government, as to why this cap is necessary. All industry or industry-adjacent voices.
People have been wondering why I have been posting on the COVID lableak theory recently.
It's increasingly clear that the WIV in Wuhan was the source of the pandemic, and that copious efforts to covering this fact up have come from the US, China, and elsewhere. 1/
It's also evident that a vocal group of virologists are trying to thwart any efforts to regulate Gain of Function viral research. Research which is incredibly dangerous to all of humanity, as the risks greatly outweigh any possible perceived benefits.
2/ journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jv…
Want to learn more? Read through the recent US Right to Know Freedom of Information releases.
3/usrtk.org/category/covid…