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Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
@ZiadFazel
Dec 23, 2021 • 35 tweets • 41 min read • Read on X
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#COVID19AB Video Thread

• Improving from Cloth Masks
• Fixing Blue Leakies™️
• Clearer Warnings about Vanch
• KN95 Respirators
• Disposable Elastomeric Respirators
• Why they are officially called masks, but new 🇨🇦 Standard coming
• Reusable Elastomeric Respirator
First, what is the difference between a Mask and a Respirator?

Why are the legitimate experts on COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses in general say that you must upgrade to a respirator?

What to look for?
I started with cloth masks in the first Wave, around March/April.

Here are the two types I used. I have not provided links to the vendors because I want you to have better, but there are good things to learn about Fit.
Filters I used with my cloth masks.

It is a good learning experience to share, because the lessons about Fit and Filtration carry forward into Respirators.

If you can't afford respirators, government should be supplying you. The cost-benefit for taxpayers is worth it.
Wrapping up the lessons on cloth masks & their filters.

Salespeople use this, but please look at the VALUE of a respirator, rather than PRICE. I don't drive by Starbucks to drop $5 on coffee every day, that I can just switch to respirators.

Against Omicron, Find a Way.
Blue Leakies™️

aka polypropylene 3-4 layer procedural masks (earloop) or surgical masks (head ties).

ASTM F2100 is best, but AHS has bought lesser, and subjected Health Care Workers I love to them.

Forces HCW to wear them exclusively.

#COVIDisAirborne
I'm going to get into the Vanch masks now.

Reminder that I am speaking as a citizen in a democracy, from bona fide belief, with evidence I believe to support my opinion.
Getting deeper into the Vanch masks.

I did a thread about this in April 2020, and shared this information with several healthcare leaders, unions at various levels, and managers at several facilities.

My thanks to @Dave_Khan and @RajBhardwajMD for helping me get the word out.

In my view AHS and Alberta Health responded to the concerns raised by unions and medical associations with deceptive information about this "PPE" to the joint Health & Safety Committee.
I raised this again in Nov 2020, and appreciate the courage of physicians to speak up too.

Disappointed there was no take-up by the NDP despite several efforts. I am not a member of any political party.

Given GoA deception, I needed the opposition.

Independent journalist @kim_siever did an excellent investigation into the Vanch masks in May 2020, showing:
• quality issues
• Vanch was not the manufacturer, but was laundering spot-market mani-pedi masks
• cronyism and over pricing
Digging deeper into Vanch's Failed Splash Resistance, aka Worker Protection from Bodily Fluids emitted by their Patient.

The Vanch masks failed this, and IMO AHS used more deceptive language to cover this up.
IMO, AHS knows their Vanch masks fail to provide the Splash Resistance their workers expect, but uses deceptive PPE disclosure to risk their lives on that too.

It's like saying condoms with pinholes meet some bogus standard for condoms with or without pinholes.
Summarizing the Vanch mask issues, primarily for engineers & OH&S specialists.

Happy to be politely corrected on this, w good sources, if I am mistaken.

@BarryHunt008 @caruzycki @DavidElfstrom @kprather88 @sameo416 @GosiaGasperoPhD @CPita3 @Bornforbarn @jasmith_yorku @JBuriak
@BarryHunt008 @caruzycki @DavidElfstrom @kprather88 @sameo416 @GosiaGasperoPhD @CPita3 @Bornforbarn @jasmith_yorku @JBuriak Rephrasing my Vanch warning for Health Care Workers

@DanielleLarivee @jvipondmd @PopAlberta @LeylaDAsadi @GermHunterMD @TehseenLadha @gilmcgowan @demandsbetter @RajBhardwajMD @plasercalgary @kwburak @noelgibney @Rea_Booker @drdagly @John1MD @zaidi71
@BarryHunt008 @caruzycki @DavidElfstrom @kprather88 @sameo416 @GosiaGasperoPhD @CPita3 @Bornforbarn @jasmith_yorku @JBuriak @DanielleLarivee @jvipondmd @PopAlberta @LeylaDAsadi @GermHunterMD @TehseenLadha @gilmcgowan @demandsbetter @RajBhardwajMD @plasercalgary @kwburak @noelgibney @Rea_Booker @drdagly @John1MD @zaidi71 Winding up on Blue Leakies: Vanch is worst.

I give advice here on Mask Fitters to make OTHER disposable procedural masks safer.

making.engr.wisc.edu/mask-fitter/

fixthemask.com

Above, I forgot the link to @kim_siever exposé on AHS and the Vanch Masks

kimsiever.ca/2020/05/15/wha…
@BarryHunt008 @caruzycki @DavidElfstrom @kprather88 @sameo416 @GosiaGasperoPhD @CPita3 @Bornforbarn @jasmith_yorku @JBuriak @DanielleLarivee @jvipondmd @PopAlberta @LeylaDAsadi @GermHunterMD @TehseenLadha @gilmcgowan @demandsbetter @RajBhardwajMD @plasercalgary @kwburak @noelgibney @Rea_Booker @drdagly @John1MD @zaidi71 @kim_siever Just a reminder that @PopAlberta did an excellent job here (as usual)
• experts who know muuch more than I do
• given #COVIDisAirborne, how to protect yourself
• ventilation, filtration, indoor v outdoor, PPE

Any discrepancy between what these experts say and what I say, I defer to them.

I'm a generalist, taking you on my own journey from cloth masks, through Blue Leakies™️, a frustrated dive into Vanch masks, and now into respirators.

Like the new bare minimum, KN95 respirator.
I'm also showing you the classical 3M N95 respirator, with the classic cup or dome design.

3M has other options which are more comfortable, and/or fit better, therefore making them more functional.
Pulling you further from masks to respirators, there are many companies outside and inside Canada (hi @CAPPEM2) that make N95 or N95-equivalent, or the emerging CSA standard.

cappem.ca
I've had a couple of conversations recently that informed my own purchasing decisions, FYI





But I was most interested in a NanoMask, from @BarryHunt008's Prescientx
• partly because I have come to know & respect him
• partly because NanoMask is excellent, w full disclosure of test results

@ShawnaGofABPoli @feltford @trendless @LazarusLong13

prescientx.com/nano-mask
@BarryHunt008 @ShawnaGofABPoli @feltford @trendless @LazarusLong13 Check out the NanoMask seal (Fit)
and the low breathing resistance (Comfort & Function)
for the excellent filtration
So because of development in the 🇨🇦 CSA Respirator Standard and labs to certify products to it (see tweet above with the 3 twitter conversations about that)..

I get why NanoMask is ASTM Level 3 ++

Totally comfortable with its Fit + Filter + Function compared to KN95 or N95.
Now, if you've been doing the math with disposable Blue Leakies which you are getting for $0.50 or so (AHS pays $1.50 each for 40m over 2 years!) you think a $20 mask/respirator is a bad deal.

But the NanoMask lasts a lot longer. Especially if you have 2, and you rotate them.
I got my NanoMask Fri 10 Dec.
• First Sunday I wore it for 5 sweaty hours in library as I made 6 binders for work
• Have worn it 2 - 4 hours/day for groceries, LTC visits, etc until Tue 21 Dec
• Trying different model now

Still like new. I agree with @BarryHunt008's letter.
@BarryHunt008 Now, I have had my eye on the Prescientx Breathe mask (which I can call a respirator) that they're clearing out for a Heckuva deal.

$50 including 500 filters because inventory is being cleared out.

10 cents a day.

There's 1 Clear one left right now.

prescientx.com/shop/ols/produ…
@BarryHunt008 I mentioned companies in Canada or USA that retooled + invested heavily to make PPE.

Making ASTM F2100 masks or N95-equivalent respirators takes capital, access to good suppliers, guts, and technical skill.

Starting up in a pandemic, to save lives. 😇

@BarryHunt008 The Breathe Respirator has many wonderful traits:
• High Filtration and Low Breathing Resistance of NanoMask filters
• Wonderful fit of an industrial silicone respirator housing soft as a diving mask
• The harness to attach it to your head....not so good
@BarryHunt008 Not slamming the harness, because as I explained earlier, when governments and ID Docs:
• denied #COVIDisAirborne
• forced HCW to wear Blue Leakies™️
• told the public just distance 6 ft
• then finally cloth masks
• they killed business case for further product development
I just wanted to show the harness problem well enough to show:
• the solution was hanging right around my neck
• from my favourite cloth mask
• instead of trying to go ear loop + lanyard
• just go simple head tie
• with a FLAT work boot lace

marks.com/en/duracare-ke…
Some of you already own it but weren't sure about the harness; others were interested

@feltford @trendless @LazarusLong13 @GosiaGasperoPhD @LeylaDAsadi

Yesterday my sister bought the last Grey, and the 2nd last Clear. One she will give to this saint

So I'm sorry if I push demand past your remaining stock of filters, @BarryHunt008, or housings your supplier has left.

I just love the Breathe. It was worth me learning & fighting through 2:20 limit on Twitter videos, to show how to fix the harness, for existing & new owners.
This was my labour of love tonight.

Full use of my skills, and my sleep.

#Omicron will need us to learn, and apply to the very best, every tool in the shed to prevent our province/country/planet from being overrun by the nastiest mutation of #COVID19 yet.

Be safe, everyone.
Here are the 3 slides I was working with tonight to summarize the Vanch mask issues

albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page170…

Links to the AHS website

albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/pp…

albertahealthservices.ca/assets/news/nr…

Here's how @UnitedNurses were misled

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More from @ZiadFazel

Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
Jun 16
If you come to Palomino early enough on a weekday, the soup of the day may still be available.

Having lunch here now at 1.30pm and first time for me, and it is heaven.

Clam chowder with a delicacy in the spices and herbs you wouldn’t expect from a “BBQ Joint”.

Thank you Chef. My photo of my clam chowder with unexpected cornbread loaf on the side.
My mistake. CORN chowder, not clam chowder as I said above.

First bite blew me away, so I tweeted right away. They have a similar classic base, IIRC.

I can’t eat pork, so I got it without bacon garnish (therefore also vegetarian).

For those who do 🐖, party on people. My photo of chalkboard sidewalk sign.
For “main course” you need video, not photo.

This is Elote Taco Salad, with the smoked turkey I added, to the music of Talking Heads “Burning Down the House” which Palomino provides with your meal.

After the soup, at least half of this will go home for dinner/midnight snack.
My screenshot of “Greens” section of menu.
Read 5 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
Jun 7
I was going to tweet about my early dinner tonight at Palomino (cliché food pics) but just got hit with wall of SWEET sound when I went downstairs to use the washroom, and opened the steel door to basement concert hall.

WOW.

This is "Olde Ghosts" warming up - in this program. My photo with permission of Olde Ghosts 4-piece band warming up (I'd say they're already on fire) as I went to basement washroom at Palomino (shared with underground concert hall).
In the program they are listed as "Old Ghost" which may just be a miscommunication between Palomino mgmt and Band mgmt. Still gets the message across.
I am a nerdy 58-yr-old engineer who surprises people with 2 unexpected traits: a love for good metal, and endless jokes.

On the latter, I am like Leslie Nielsen who could easily get even people braced for his hidden fart accordion to crack up. But I'm not using one....yet.👺
With metal, I was raised with Indian music my parents played, like the Pakeezah soundtrack, until the cassette literally broke.

This is one of the songs from that movie. It builds until Meena Kumari (Indian's Marilyn) dances with those 2 😍 backups.

Read 9 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
May 30
Kinda proud of myself. Also.. life is hilarious.

I’ve been eating a lot of rich, flavourful food recently, and I went from a salmon/capers omelet at OEB to the passcode protected washroom in food court at Fifth Avenue Place. Took a massive, relaxed dump.

Laughing as I type.
So I’m washing my hands - even had the foresight to take a restaurant napkin to dry my hands and use on the door lever to exit (trust me on this) and a distinguished gentlemen t about 60 walks in.

And visibly buckles, and groans.

I’m trying not to laugh out loud.
I step out of washroom and all of this is hitting me as I walk slowly to exit escalator, down to a bench on 5 Ave, where I am typing this now.

I’m almost crying not to burst out laughing.

And the Punjabi woman security guard sweetly asks me “Are you OK?”

No, Bhenji. I’m not.
Read 4 tweets
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
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
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
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
Ziad 😷 Fazel 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Profile picture
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

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