Many years from now, when historians look back on this pandemic, the stupidity of both the private and the public sectors will not go unnoticed. 1/
COVID is airborne. We now know that controlling the spread of the virus requires a multi-pronged approach. Although vaccines are incredibly important and helpful, vaccination alone can only go so far. Essentially, it decreases the severity of the illness in most people...
(sadly, less so in the elderly and the immuno-compromised), but as the virus mutates, the vaccine's sterilizing effect (protection from actually catching the virus) gets weaker and weaker. 3/
Masks are also an important tool, but people are fed up and refuse to use them. I know, the idea of never eating indoors at a restaurant is more than most people can take. 4/
Now, even the idea of wearing a mask at a grocery store is too much to ask of many people. 5/
But the real stupidity lies in society's utter refusal to do anything about air quality. In years to come, the world will shake its head at how nothing was done to rid the air of the virus. 6/
I suspect that today's complaints about the cost and complications related to air purification will be compared to how the public and private sectors in the mid-19th century no doubt initially refused to take any action to treat wastewater...
thus condemning millions of people to die of cholera. 8/
One day, air quality and air purification will be as ubiquitous as wastewater treatment (yes, yes, I know that we haven't solved that problem yet for our First Nations and it is a shameful stain on our country),...9/
...but for now with no mask mandates, COVID is running rampant. We are not learning to live with COVID, we are learning to give up to COVID. End of thread.
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Short 🧵I just refused an invitation to a party from a dear friend of many yrs. She lives in the US, but is in town for a family event & she's invited me & hubby. Though we don't see each other often due to distance, we have remained close over the yrs...
Here's what I wrote:
"Unfortunately, I don't think J. and I will attend the party. Since we both always mask at indoor events, we probably wouldn't stay very long and wouldn't eat or drink anything..."
"But I suppose the bottom line is that we would, as they say, "salt the vibe," and I don't want to ruin in any way what will certainly be a fun party. Please wish I. a very happy birthday from both of us."
A 🧵Just got a call from Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto asking me to increase my monthly donation. I let the person calling drone on for a bit abt how wonderful the hosp. is & the amazing care they provide. Then ...
I let 'er rip: I told the caller how thoroughly & utterly disgusted I am that they dropped the mask mandate. I forcefully repeated the word "disgusted" a number of times. If a voice could drip w/ contempt, it would've been mine...
I said that I didn't want to catch Cvd & that I've decided not to go to see my surgeon there to discuss surgery that I may very well need b/c the best place to catch Cvd is in a hospital...
Every time I think I've actually come to terms w/ the fact that virtually all the ppl I know have simply turned the pandemic off in the minds & are blithely making themselves & others ill, if not killing them, I realize that I'm still raging. A 🧵
Our provincial govt has decided to stop funding wastewater surveillance program. This means that not only will we lose the best info we have on Cvd spread, but we'll also be robbed of stats on H5N1, polio, RSV, flu & many other transmissible diseases. So...
Silly, naive me thinks maybe my FB friends might find this disturbing too. So I posted the Premier's phone # so ppl can call to say they disagree w/ the decision. BTW, our Premier encourages ppl to call him. He proudly makes his # available to the public...
The argument that "life is always full of risks, so just live your life" is difficult to counter b/c it involves an extremely nuanced analysis of the situation ...
(explaining just how serious a one-in-ten chance is, understanding how population health and anecdotal observations cannot be compared, asking people to be concerned about the health of perfect strangers, & the list goes on and on) ...
Most people are constitutionally incapable of actually understanding the seriousness of this time in human history. If climate change doesn't get us first (& wow, that's a whole other discussion), society will be weaker and sicker for generations to come.
Yesterday I had supper (outdoors) w/ 4 friends living in 2019. I masked up when I went in to use the bathroom. Almost no mention of cvd (past tense only), lots of chatting abt trips, plans, new jazz cafes, etc. I felt like a martian. 1/
The realization that those I hold dear are totally oblivious to an outgoing health disaster is often more than I can take. I realize that most ppl cannot psychologically support looking disaster in the face.
It's way easier to talk abt the best way to get to NYC. Should you just drive or is it still worth taking the plane? 3/