Our new article is out documenting the burden of the #pandemic on food service workers.
What it boils down to is fighting an #AIRBORNE virus with droplet dogma.
I will walk you through some of the more shocking highlights. 1/ 🧵
During the BA.1 Omicron wave, for example, food service workers could often get free #HandSanitizer.
Yet, free high-quality masks (e.g., #N95) were hard to come by.
N95s prevent people from inhaling airborne virus into their lungs. Hand sanitizer does not.
2/
With a lack of #PublicHealth guidance, many in the food service industry have faced decision fatigue in handling C0VID-related issues.
Participants said co-workers struggle with what to do if sick (87%), when to return to work (83%), or whether to get a booster (61%). 3/
Food service workers have expressed that C0VID has had a big impact on co-workers' #MentalHealth.
Anxiety, depression, and substance use lead the way. However, many respondents also noted a co-worker dealing with #bereavement, suicidal ideation, or violence (17-36%). 4/
Shortly after the BA.1 Omicron surge, many in the food service industry were aware of a co-worker dealing with #LongCOVID.
"Fatigue" (often EXHAUSTION) led the way. Many knew a co-worker with prolonged loss of taste or smell, which are huge to that occupation. 5/
In the more recent days of the pandemic, food service workers emphasized that a key priority was reducing in-home spread of C0VID.
Experts you know from Twitter provided their guidance on reducing in-home spread. Here's a link to another resource.
🌤️Only 1 in 5 days of the pandemic have seen transmission as low as today
🌤️1 in 196 actively infectious
⚡️BUT still 1.7 million weekly infections, resulting in >85,000 LC cases and up to 1,000 deaths
I'll walk you through it...
🧵2 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
We're in the 6th year. See the small red line, bottom left. Notice how closely it tracks the median (gray), year 4 (yellow), & year 5 (orange).
Acknowledging caveats, those are plausible gist-level scenarios for months ahead.
🧵3 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
Expect steady transmission bouncing up and down around the current national lull-level estimate the next several weeks. 200-350k daily infections nationally.
🔹2.2 million weekly infections
🔹1 in 149 actively infectious
🔹>100,000 LC cases resulting from the week's infections
🔹>800 deaths resulting from the week's infections
🔹"Lull" transmission steady/slightly declining
🧵2/5 | PMC Dashboard, Apr1il 14, 2025 (U.S.)
Year-over-year transmission (red line, lower left) is tracking the median (grey), year 4 (yellow), and year 5 (orange) closely.
If that trend continues, expect steady yet bumpy transmission the next couple months, until June/July.
🧵3/5 | PMC Dashboard, Apr1il 14, 2025 (U.S.)
The heat map shows only 4 states in the CDC 'high' level and none in the 'very' high level.
Check local data. Those timing activities to lulls may see a clear opportunity.
The NIH Clinical Center drops universal masking after 5 months of protecting patients, family, & staff.
Wastewater-derived estimates indicate 2.79 million Americans are getting Covid per week AND top actuaries suggest an American dies of Covid every 3 minutes.
🔹1 in 120 actively infectious
🔹1 in 3 chance of exposure in a room of 50
🔹2.8 million weekly infections
🔹>140,000 resulting LC cases from the week's infections
🔹>1,000 deaths resulting from the week's infections
2) Watch this video to understand how we use excess death data from one of the world's largest reinsurers to estimate how this week's infections will result in >1,000 deaths.
🔹800-1,400 deaths expected to result from this week's infections (new stat, see video next Tweet)
🔹100,000+ Long Covid conditions to result from this week's infections
🔹1 in 142 actively infectious today
🧵2 of 5
PMC Dashboard, March 31, 2025 (U.S.)
This video explains U.S. COVID excess death statistics, which we have incorporated into the dashboard.
🔥109,000-175,000 people in the U.S. are expected to die as a result of COVID in 2025, based on estimates derived from Swiss Re
🔥COVID deaths expected to be on par with lung cancer in the U.S. in 2025
🔥Death data added to the dashboard
2) Full video links to learn more about COVID #ExcessDeaths in the U.S.