It's time for a little walk down the path called "what wave is this?". About naming the 3rd, 4th, and now 5th waves. And why it's important. 1/
it began with the 3rd wave. Our leaders oblivious despite having evidence from previous waves of how exponential growth worked, making it predictable, and how to stop it through mitigation policies, making it preventable. #predictableandpreventablewave. 2/
Then the fourth wave. The attempt to cause herd immunity by allowing it to run rampant through our population, especially the kids. And h/t to @sarahkendzior and @AndreaChalupa for pointing out that cruelty is the purpose. The #intentionallycruelwave 3/
Giving the waves pet names allowed them to be described, and explained in a different way than "3rd" or "4th" wave couldn't do. It also was an attempt (probably unsuccessful) to shame the leaders into acting better. 4/
But the 5th wave?A Tsunami of infection descending upon us.And so transmissible that even paragons of pandemic policy like Nova Scotia are failing. I have no faith in our leaders protecting us, they have proven unworthy of the task thusfar, and will continue to fail, methinks. 5/
I have always (and will continue to) say that gov't responsibility >>>> personal responsibility. but with systems and leaders failing, I hope people will protect themselves and their loved ones. Vaccines, smart behaviours, and respirator masks. The #weararespiratorwave. 6/
COVID has been an airborne transmitted disease since the beginning. But the Western world has been loathe to acknowledge it, for reasons I hope someone eventually figures out. But Omicron has made that transmission hard to ignore. 7/ thelancet.com/article/S0140-β¦
For the first 20 months, we coasted on contact/droplet precautions. Kinda like driving a car in a back alley at low speed, seatbelts (airborne precautions) were not obviously important (to some). Then the speeds increased with each variant. It started to rain. Seatbelts needed.8/
But now we're driving at hellish speeds in a raging icestorm and goddamn it the driver is drunk. We need seatbelts and good car design and airbags to survive. Airborne precautions: respirator masks, ventilation and filtration. 9/
Respirators aren't foolproof. But neither are vaccines, 75% effective for infection after 3 shots for Omicron. And respirators are a far cry better than gaping cloth or surgical masks. We need all the safety layers to get us through this. (H/T @MackayIM) 10/
We're hearing acknowledgement of this from @CPHO_Canada@GovCanHealth and even belately from @CMOH_Alberta. But now the next problem. How to deal with the supply issues of 36M Canadians rushing to supply themselves. 11/
And the equity issue. Not everyone can afford a $1-$2 disposable mask (surgical masks are around $0.20 each, fabric masks last forever). So, I call on the federal government to incentivize production by @CAPPEM2, and distribute free of charge to those in need. 12/
Despite the disposable nature of the masks, you can reuse them, for up to a 40 hour use (they don't get "gummed up" with COVID or anything else). Throw them out if they get visibly soiled or obviously smelly. Longer life= cheaper and less supply problems. 13/
I think we need to talk about the Infection Prevention and Control- Canada organization (IPAC-Canada). @IPACCanada, who has their annual conference starting Sunday. 1/
I was lucky enough to present at last year's convention at the invite of @BarryHunt008, on environmental impact of masking policies, with a focus on airborne protection.
You can see my presentation here: 3/
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/defβ¦
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/columnβ¦
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.