Mary Fernando MD Profile picture
Mom, wife,writer, (ret) doctor and patient advocate. We are all patients. Born feisty. Writes for @MedicalPost + SleuthSayers.
Oct 30 4 tweets 1 min read
Heard in the wild: I’m fed up with COVID-19, it won’t end.

Reasons it doesn’t end:

-vaccine availability isn’t timed with waning.
-no mandatory masking in healthcare/LTC
-no masking in high risk situations

What I’m fed up with: refusal to do what’s needed to end COVID-19 I’ll add that both my husband and I are high-risk and, despite living a happy life, have managed to not get COVID.

How?

See friends outdoors, get vaccinated, mask when needed and adult children/ houseguests exposed to risk (like transatlantic flights) test to stay safe.
Oct 27, 2022 5 tweets 4 min read
1/ One reason many of us advocate for #masks #vaccines is because#COVID patients are filling up hospitals/clinics and patients need other healthcare too.

Never thought this would impact me.

But here I am @OttawaHeartInstitute Image 2/ My husband - who has run 7-10k a few times a week his whole adult life - needed to be here today.

Sending my best to our #familydoctor #cardiologist #cardiacsurgeon #nurses

Sending my absolute worst to those who carelessly spread covid.

#WearYourDangMask
Jan 25, 2022 4 tweets 4 min read
1/ This article by @_neginnia is dangerous if it prevents people from protecting their eyes.

I spoke with @_neginnia about my @MedicalPost article on face shields vs goggles:

PDF: static1.squarespace.com/static/5f78940…

This is her article: theglobeandmail.com/canada/british… 2/ After citing 2 Lancet studies showing ocular #COVID19 transmission, there's opining: “The risk of someone getting that close that they’re going to cough and have high concentrations of it near your eyeball is really low,”
Spitting in your eye?
#COVIDisAirborne
Or this gem:
Jan 24, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
I wrote about the need for 3rd doses from Sept when other countries were giving them. Many experts argued with me. Many went on TV and explained they weren’t needed. These are the results of months of PR by them. Time to say they were wrong publicly and help save lives. #cndpoli Many are still on tv and do support 3rd doses, however they need to backtrack on their incorrect advice. Because it’s a creating a problem and filling up our hospitals and morgues. Many get their info from TV/articles. Be humble. Say you were wrong and it puts people at risk. 👇🏽
Jan 1, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
1/There are so many #COVID19 infections in people who are being careful.

#Omicron is so highly infectious.

I wrote this earlier but it is even more crucial now: wear eye protection in indoor settings like grocery stores.

Bare eyes can get infected.

canadianhealthcarenetwork.ca/public-health-… 2/ If you're hesitant about wearing goggles, find one that you're comfortable with - don't leave you're eyes bare #COVIDisAirborne

My children wear these ones - they call them 'hipster goggles'
amazon.ca/Goggles-Blocki…
Apr 29, 2021 5 tweets 4 min read
🧵Canada's rollout of #COVID19Vaccine

Partial truths (aka half lies):

Fallacy: Ignoring vaccine safety protocols by waiting 4 months is ‘covering everyone with one shot'

Fact: You could end up in the ICU

Plan: @drmwarner - we need to communicate that to keep people safe 2/ Fallacy: Canada is waiting 4 months because of supply issues.

Fact: Canada has given the same # as many countries and has CHOSEN to delay shots longer than any other country in the world. This is a choice. Period.

Plan: if too many get sick, we need to change
Apr 13, 2021 7 tweets 5 min read
🧵Why the 4 month delay for our 2nd #CovidVaccine🇨🇦?

The NACI document that this is all based on: "studies have not yet collected four months of data on vaccine effectiveness after the first dose" canada.ca/en/public-heal…

Translation: It's an experiment.
nytimes.com/2021/04/09/hea… 2/ So this delay in doses - let me list the ways this can bite us:

While rushing to cover as many people as we can with 1 dose, will we leave many partially immunized and just get more ICU admissions?

Yes, because THAT we have data for: bbc.com/future/article…

And then...
Jan 3, 2021 5 tweets 3 min read
Spin: hospitals are over capacity ONLY because of #COVID19

Reality: We were overcapacity before #COVID19 but now it's worse.

Fact: 🇨🇦 has cut hospital beds for decades and ranks near the bottom of the OECD theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… 2/What does this mean?

First and foremost - patients have been in hospital hallways for years, or in broom closets as I wrote way back in 2007 😬thestar.com/news/2007/01/2…
🇨🇦 pay taxes for good healthcare - governments should not be cutting Canadians out of good hospital care.
Oct 1, 2020 7 tweets 6 min read
1/ My @MedicalPost article "a new clinical reality...: some survivors of the virus have long-term and serious morbidities. People don’t just die or survive and that clear cut dichotomy should be put to rest."
#COVID19
bit.ly/2Gqfyw
ungated - bit.ly/3n9LPIo Image 2/ @DrRickSwartz “the capacity is so thin in the stroke system, as in many specialties, that it will overwhelm the system...Canada, with a population of more than 37 million people, has a total of 1,080 practicing neurologists as of 2019. That number is worrisome." #COVID19
Sep 30, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Meanwhile, in Canada, the children are all here, we’ve eaten a fab Thai dinner and we are all a tad nervous. #Debates2020 He cannot shut up. He is running off at the mouth.
Aug 26, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
The kindest, most loyal dog I’ve had: Kai #NationalDogDay Image Our 15 year old matriarch: Sasha. #NationalDogDay Image
Aug 21, 2020 5 tweets 4 min read
1/ Title: lies and making stuff up about #COVID

Early on, while some of us were advocating for #masks, the public was told that #masks don't work to protect the public and that they make people touch their faces more increasing the spread of #COVID19 2/ Then we were told that #masks work but they wanted to tell us they don’t to save them for healthcare workers - this admission of lying during a #pandemic erodes public trust