Two countries.

Two charts.

A very similar (and concerning) trend.

…………..

Can you think of anything that happened in 2020 which is still affecting huge swathes of people on an ongoing basis and which may help explain this worrying trend?

/1 Image
If you haven’t figured it out yet, here’s a little clue… 🔎

/2 Image
Still not worked it out?

Here’s another clue from Jim Reed, the BBC’s health reporter… 

/3
The government say they want to fix the benefits crisis…

…but to fix the benefits crisis, they’re going to have to fix the long-term sickness crisis…

…and to fix the long-term sickness crisis, they’re going to have to fix the Long Covid crisis…

/4
…and to fix the Long Covid crisis, they’re going to have to stop ignoring the highly infectious disease which causes it…

ie. COVID.

Every reinfection increases the risk of Long Covid.

And the best way to prevent Long Covid is to prevent Covid infections & reinfections.

/5 Image
Since Covid is predominantly spread via airborne aerosols which spread through a room like smoke and can linger in the air even after the infectious person has left the room, the best way to prevent Covid infections is to use mitigations against AIRBORNE transmission.

/6
Airborne mitigations which would help to reduce Covid transmission include:

1️⃣ Wearing high quality FFP2/3 masks, particularly in HEALTHCARE SETTINGS where the risk of coming into contact with an infected person is high.

/7 Image
2️⃣ Improving indoor air quality through ventilation and air filtration.

Again, this is particularly important in HEALTHCARE SETTINGS where the risk of airborne transmission is very high…

/8
…and also in SCHOOLS where children are crammed into poorly-ventilated classrooms, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with up to 29 other kids for around 6 hours a day, 5 days a week…

…where parents are told it’s perfectly ok to send their kids in with obvious Covid symptoms.

/9
We have the tools to reduce the spread of COVID…

…which, in turn, would reduce the number of people developing Long Covid.

Many recommendations have been voiced by experts at the Covid Inquiry about reducing airborne transmission.

So why aren’t we DOING it?!

/End

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Cat in the Hat 🐈‍⬛ 🎩 🇬🇧

Cat in the Hat 🐈‍⬛ 🎩 🇬🇧 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @_CatintheHat

Jan 4
COVID & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

New US study showing impact on child brain development when their mothers are infected with COVID during pregnancy.

Results show:
🔎 Structural differences in regions of the brain
🔎Lower cognition & social-emotional scores

sciencedirect.com/science/articl… x.com/harryspoelstra…Image
And here’s another study, this time from Brazil (published Jun 2025), which also shows the impact of maternal COVID infection on child development.

At 24 months:
🔎 36% of infants exhibited cognitive delays
🔎 64% communication delays
🔎 57% motor delays

nature.com/articles/s4139…Image
And another study, just published this week (Jan 2026) in ‘Obstetrics & Gynecology’, came to similar conclusions…

“Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of adverse neurodevelopmental diagnoses by age 3 years”.

journals.lww.com/greenjournal/f… x.com/jama_current/s…Image
Read 4 tweets
Dec 17, 2025
“When it comes to flu, the focus is often on droplet transmission, but there’s also evidence of aerosol transmission. That means that ventilation & air filtration are HUGELY important.

“Are the Govt looking to improve that to help deal with all the respiratory infections?”

/1
It’s absolutely brilliant to hear Baroness Bennett raising this crucial question in the House of Lords this week.

Thank you, @natalieben 🙏🏻

You can read a transcript of the full question and response received below ⬇️



/2 hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-12-…Image
Given the shocking state of ventilation in UK hospitals ⬇️…

3/
Read 4 tweets
Dec 11, 2025
This feels like an important breakthrough moment…

On the BBC News this evening, Medical Editor @BBCFergusWalsh clearly stated:

“As for facemasks, simple surgical masks are *not* good at stopping viruses. You really need a properly fitted tight respirator mask for that”…

/1
…which begs the question, why does the NHS infection control guidance STILL only recommend surgical masks for treating patients with airborne viruses like flu & Covid… and not proper FFP3 masks?

Even Baroness Hallett was rather perplexed by this during the Covid Inquiry.

/2
The IPC experts (Dr Warne & Dr Shin) who provided independent specialist advice to the Covid Inquiry both stated that IPC guidelines should be updated to recommend routine use of FFP3 masks when caring for patients with ANY respiratory virus.

So why has this not been done?

/3
Read 7 tweets
Dec 10, 2025
CEO, NHS Providers, @danielelkeles:

“It’s a v nasty variant of flu that we have this year.”

“We need to get back into the habit that, if you’re coughing & sneezing […] then you must wear a mask when you’re in public spaces.”

I’m so pleased to hear Daniel promoting masks BUT…
…I have 3 questions for @danielelkeles:

1️⃣ He only mentions that people who are sick “must wear a mask in public spaces”…

…but why did he not also suggest that people who are *not* sick should wear a mask to prevent themselves getting sick in the first place?!

Like this ⬇️ Image
2️⃣ Why didn’t @danielelkeles mention FFP masks?

Surgical masks DON’T protect against airborne transmission of flu.

“Live viruses could be detected in the air behind ALL surgical masks tested. By contrast, properly fitted respirators could provide at least a 100-fold reduction.” Image
Read 5 tweets
Dec 8, 2025
UK ‘SUPERFLU’ OUTBREAK

Schools in England & Wales have been forced to close amid escalating flu outbreaks with hundreds of pupils off sick at a time.

Simon Kidwell, headteacher of Hartford Manor Primary told BBC Breakfast: “The winter bugs spread really easily in schools”…

/1
Headteacher Simon Kidwell is not wrong.

Children are crammed into poorly ventilated classrooms, shoulder-to-shoulder with up to 29 other kids, for around 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

It’s the perfect environment for airborne diseases to spread…

/2 Image
We had a big wave of Covid in Sept/Oct, followed in very quick succession by the current wave of flu and RSV.

It’s been one perpetual cycle of illness hammering schools.

I often hear people say: “oh, but it’s always been like this”.

But it *hasn’t* always been like this.

/3 Image
Read 18 tweets
Dec 4, 2025
NHS England: “It will not be possible to halt the spread of a new pandemic virus, and it would be a waste of public health resources and capacity to attempt to do so.”

This has got to be one of the most 🤯 things I’ve ever seen written down in an official document. Image
And this is an important point from @mdc_martinus ⬇️

The NHS constitution states that they’re meant to PREVENT health problems…

…so how can their pandemic response strategy say it’d be a WASTE of public health resources to attempt to halt the spread of a new pandemic virus?!
@mdc_martinus Here is the full letter from CATA (an alliance of medical organisations, royal colleges & trade unions) raising the alarm about the NHS pandemic response strategy to the Chair of the Covid Inquiry.

For more details, please read the excellent thread from @cv_cev linked below ⬇️ Image
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(