Let’s talk about the word “infected” because I’m starting to notice that people misunderstand this term.
And it is a super important concept to know about!
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a useful place to start when you want to know more about a health or public health related concept because they have clear definitions.
So let’s start by looking at their definition.
Infection (in-FEK-shun)
“The invasion and growth of germs in the body. The germs may be bacteria, viruses, yeast, fungi, or other microorganisms.”
COVID is still happening and most people are back in the office with only minor, if any, mitigations.
But people have been convinced that COVID is done and they aren’t at risk.
There’s no outcry because the gaslighting has been effective.
I also think that it’s important to remember that infectious diseases are about groups of people—if the workers who went on zoom had instead been in the office, their availability to be part of transmission chains would have made low-income, high-exposure workers LESS safe.