"Survival of the fittest"

What does that mean?

For humans, it has always meant using tools to adapt for survival.

Lessons for handling #Covid. #SundayThoughts
A brief thread🧵 1/8
We didn't develop sharp teeth to process meat.

We developed stone and then metal tools to cut it, and learned to harness fire to cook it. 2/8
We didn't develop a thick coat of fur to live in cold climates.

We appropriated other animals' cold weather protection, and then developed our own synthetic materials. 3/8 Innuits in fur coats. Creator: Evgenii Mitroshin  Credit: Ge
We didn't limit ourselves to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, eating only what was around us.

We developed animal husbandry and agriculture. 4/8
foodsystemprimer.org/food-productio…
The way to survive this pandemic is to not force ourselves to rely on our "natural immunity." It's to use tools.

Refusing to use the tools that we have at our disposal is as nonsensical as going out in the snow naked or trying to gnaw on an animal carcass. 5/8
We have the tools to seriously mitigate the harm this virus can cause right now:
▶️High quality masking (N95 or equivalent)
▶️ventilation
▶️air filtration
▶️vaccination
▶️testing
▶️quarantine/isolation

Taiwan shows that these work, and without any lockdowns. 6/8
We should continue to use these tools until we have developed the tools that can effectively treat acute infection and prevent or treat #LongCovid, through more effective treatments and vaccinations

We ignore the long term risks at our peril: 7/8
Additionally, improving air quality will help our health in many ways, leading to improved mental health, higher productivity in the workplace, and overall quality of life.
green.harvard.edu/tools-resource… End/
Addendum: my husband wanted me to point out that without tools, humans would be scavenging carrion if they wanted to eat meat, because they can’t catch hardly anything with their bare hands.

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More from @denise_dewald

Feb 19
“But…but…Ukraine shut down the pro-Russian media…”

Because Russia is waging an *active military campaign* and active disinformation campaign to destroy the pro-EU government aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/…
Read 6 tweets
Jan 28
I think it is unprofessional for public health officials to deny the overwhelming evidence that Covid is airborne, and to refuse to recommend that all health care workers continuously wear N95 masks to protect their own health and to prevent spreading the infection to patients.
The @CDCgov and @CDCDirector are not upholding the values, norms, and integrity of the medical profession.
Don’t @ me that the CDC does acknowledge airborne transmission. It’s lip service. The official guidelines on transmission prevention in health care settings continue to recommend face masks and do not reflect any seriousness in preventing aerosol transmission.
Read 5 tweets
Jan 26
I really can’t pretend that everything is normal.
I get that we have to keep functioning, but can we just please acknowledge that THINGS ARE NOT NORMAL?!?!?!
Everyday
Read 4 tweets
Jan 25
Do these “experts” understand any of the basics about this?

There are no “excellent” masks available for children. They will get infected and being the virus home.

Are they really expecting adults to wear N95 masks at home to prevent infection?

Insanity washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/…
Suboptimal masks only provide reasonable protection when everyone in the room wears them, and when they are combined with good ventilation and air filtration.

An N95 mask will not provide complete protection in a highly contaminated environment.
Teachers are not FIT tested, so we cannot assume that their masks are providing them with excellent protection in a highly contaminated environment.

Infectious disease experts should know this.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 17
Just WOW:

In her 2009 lecture "The Fuss about Facemasks," PPE and pandemic researcher Prof Raina MacIntyre
@Globalbiosec really lays out the systematic suppression of research about the superiority of *continuously* worn N95s compared to surgical masks.
The targeted wearing of N95 masks, as is current practice, is not effective.

*Continuous protection with N95s is needed for airborne diseases.*
I made some clarifications in the original version of this thread, and am now linking up to the rest of the thread.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 16
WHO ignored all her research (references 3-5) in creating their guidelines:
Disease transmission is complex -- germs fall as they will, be they airborne or fecal or blood borne. If they get into your body and latch onto your cells, they can cause disease.

WHO recommended only surgical masks for HCWs in Ebola outbreaks. Yet lab workers get N95s???
Use the precautionary principle with fatal diseases.

After Doctors Without Borders (MSF) gave their HCWs N95s, no more of them got infected.

WHO continued to only provide surgical masks, and their HCWs continued to die.
Read 6 tweets

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