Thread by @OhCasavant

I received a speaking invitation today. I had to decline. Here is my response:

#BringBackMasks #Ethics #COVIDisAirborne #LongCOVID #MentalHealth #HumanRights

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2/ Thank you very much for the invitation. Unfortunately, I am off work for the foreseeable future to the failure of every institution to stand up to public health and put measures in place to reduce COVID-19 transmission, which is proven to transmit via aerosols (airborne).

3/ As an immunocompromised parent of two children for whom I would like to live long enough to see them to adulthood, this has been a harrowing time. Due to unsafe schools, I have no reliable childcare. I have to pull my kids every day to eat lunch outdoors...

4/ ... and had to keep them at home frequently to try to protect our family. And, it's clear that no workplace or professional event is safe, regardless.

5/ I'm utterly despondent over the situation, and it pains me to no end to see the rampant ableism and callousness in society, including among former colleagues and within engineering institutions who darn well know better...

6/ & who have staff members w/ P.Engs who are derelict in ethical duties to hold public health & safety paramount & to report unsafe situations. I see many P.Engs, incl un faculty, violating practice standards by following along w/ physics-denying advice issued by public health.

7/ Sorry to dump that on you, but I am so broken. If any of this gets through, I would be so heartened to see your group take a stand & speak out against current ethically & scientifically void public health response.

8/ (speaking of which, they knew about Long COVID by mid-2020 - see latest FOI release from New Brunswick: open.substack.com/pub/popnb/p/om…) .

9/ You could require universal masking, educate staff & students on how N95s work vs blue surgicals, use CO2 meters to monitor vent'n (w/ action plans to open windows, reduce capacity, etc when levels >800 ppm), & place portable HEPA units in every classroom and public space.

10/ And then I signed and sent it. Not my finest piece of writing (and some abbreviations made to fit as tweet). But, friends & colleagues, I am so utterly shattered by all this.