I've been trying to think of anyone who quit their role (if in a position of influence) because of how badly Covid was being handled.
Still now for e.g.; schools & healthcare with poor air quality.
No masks in healthcare.
Who stood up & said this is wrong, not in my name?
1/🧵 I can think of lots who toed the line, took awards & plaudits.
I can think of plenty who were vocal at first and now say nothing whatsoever to challenge the narrative.
Others who have swung from being concerned and firing warning shots to encouraging disinterest & nonchalance.
2/

Healthcare in UK was poor prior to the pandemic. It has become much worse since.
Let me tell you of my father's experience.
It's pretty harrowing and I am finding it hard to imagine just how much worse it would be now with Covid rife in healthcare & worse service.
TW.
1/🧵 It started with Dad getting pain in his hip. He went to see the GP on several occasions. It was dismissed as anything serious. Likely a trapped nerve and so sent away with some meds and advice to perhaps try some swimming or gentle exercise.
It was worsening. Constant pain.
2/

Thinking about how the school & council dealt with my daughter's autism.
Instead of supporting her, they resented her.
Why?
Because she didn't just comply. Because she couldn't.
However, I see a parallel here with how Covid aware folk are treated by society as a whole.
1/🧵 We are misfits. All we are asking for are small adjustments and accommodations in public settings to make them safer to access.
People resent that.
Why?
Because we refuse to just comply, ignore and capitulate.
We can't because we know too much & we're right not to.
2/

A tale of two airborne BSL-3 infectious diseases. England.

What is low?

Tweet 1 of 3 🧵 So the idea that "there is not much Covid around right now" is not quite how we tend to look at levels of other similar pathogens.
People have become numb to it.
Lost sight of the harms & potential for Long Covid too.
No proactive approach to reduce C19 compared with TB plan.
2/

Covid cases are low I hear.
But...
Low compared to prevalence at peaks yet still very high prevalence compared with TB for example.
In 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, we have an action plan for TB.
Could we say we had a plan for Covid other than to live with it (aka ignore it)?
1/🧵
gov.uk/government/pub… You'd think having such an action plan for a disease with much lower prevalence than Covid would mean that TB was much worse than Covid, right?
But:
"TB continues to be a major cause of disease and death worldwide, being the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19"
2/

A little thread looking back at some of @ashishkjha's views around isolation.
"What would ideal COVID Isolation guidance be?"
1/🧵

https://x.com/ashishkjha/status/1478576266538373120?s=20

"5 day isolation & negative test is ideal"
"5 days isolation + 5 d masking reasonable too"
2/

https://x.com/ashishkjha/status/1475602918472572936?s=20

I was talking to a friend recently.
He said I know Covid is important to you but I live life normally, I travel, eat out, go on buses and it haven't caught it. My dad had it 3 times and it knocked him down for a few days each time but he's recovered well.
"I just carry on".
1/🧵 I've been thinking about this a while. He's a good guy and he cares. If he goes to hospital, he masks - but he doesn't do this in day to day life.
He doesn't feel highly vulnerable.
That's his experience.
His adult kids have had it & recovered.
He isn't ignorant of the threat.
2/

Sharing a series of brilliantly presented videos from @lolagerms (who deserves WAY more followers).

Lola's info is extremely well researched & full of useful tips & explainers delivered in a very clear way.

1st up; 'Covid is Airborne Pt 1'

1/🧵
'Covid is airborne part 2'.
A dive into the history, airborne confusion and miasma myths:
2/🧵

Long hospital visit for my daughter today.
Grateful to have the use of various tools to layer-up mitigations to make it safer for her.
Let me show you what was done and give details of what was used in this short thread:
1/🧵 So we have tried various respirators and find the @3M Aura style provides the best fit for her.
We added a @SIPmask because she needed to drink as part of the testing she was undergoing.
We purchased both of these through @FaceMaskStore - a trusted supplier.
2/

A story in 4 posts:

1 of 4

"We psychologize illnesses we don't fully understand."
"We project our ignorance onto these patients and that needs to stop"
@zalaly
1/🧵

https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo/status/1748541531298902207

2 of 4
GP @drclairetaylor facing backlash from other health professionals for trying to direct them as to tests they should be carrying out for their patients with LC.

https://x.com/drclairetaylor/status/1748437582784999509?s=20

I asked someone recently why they were not wearing a respirator in a busy indoor setting.
Reply:
"had a killer sinus infection, was already losing my voice, and my mask was ibuprofen my pocket. I’m sick as a dog right now (not covid) but yes I have some regrets!"
Thoughts:
1/ 🧵 Well this was a person answering with honesty which I appreciate.
A lot of effort has gone into making sure this person thinks this way. I acknowledge that. Through Gov't & PH messaging.
Not protecting yourself is a 'paid for' action.
Keep 'topping up' infection levels. Sigh.
2/

Thread on UK schools; for the record.

The Government position is that they have robust evidence that most classrooms are adequately ventilated.
I have 2 problems with this:
1) Their definition of adequate is in no way sufficient.
2) No such evidence has ever been published.
1/🧵 Looking at what is 'adequate'. This has been derived from standard BB101 & says that occupied areas must not constantly exceed 1500ppm CO2.
This is much too high to be as effective as possible in reducing airborne disease transmission.
I disagree that it's in any way adequate.
2/

Evidence from replies to me that we are failing in terms of education about SARS-Cov-2 in many aspects.
It's pretty funny but rather sad at the same time.

A short thread 🧵

Example 1 - how can it be airborne if only detected by nasal swab? // best stop breathing ❎: Example 2 - No transmission if vaccinated ❎:

People say - well what did you do every Flu season before 2019?

Aside from the obvious differences between Flu & C19, the more I've learned, the more annoyed I am about what *could* have been done.

Flu too has been largely left to vaccines with almost zero other effort.
1/🧵 Why not do more?
It's similar with all airborne transmitted diseases - much more could have been & should have been done to reduce transmissions.
If schools, healthcare, public transit & other public settings had clean air mandates - all of these diseases would be reduced.
2/

A relative asked me:
"What would it take for you to go back to normal?"

My reply "what is normal?"

F: "Well doing all the things you used to do".

Some thoughts in a short thread.

Firstly; when circumstances change significantly, I don't consider it normal to ignore that.
1/🧵 So rather than go back to exactly how things were before a global pandemic, I adapted to my new situation.
My idea of normal & their's probably differed quite considerably anyway.
I guess I've never been typical.
But really I think they're asking - why aren't you more like me?
2/

My Covid Perspectives Spaces series on X.

With the year drawing to a close, I just wanted to thank all the guests that have given their time to come to discuss their views & share knowledge with me in 2023.

Here are all the amazing people who have taken part:
1/🧵 Guests (in order of appearance):
@amandalhu @danaparish @brownecfm @LibDemPatrick @DaliaHasanMD @GosiaGasperoPhD @sameo416 @akm5376 @DrKatrin_Rabiei @keetmuise @ColinKinner @dontwantadothis @jvipondmd @MarvinH2_G2 @BarryHunt008 @joeyfox85 @dgurdasani1 @MeetJess @jksmith34
2/

Dear @JamesTGallagher of @BBCNews,

You've written several articles about Covid in recent years. Do you ever look back & wonder if the previous ones proved to be factual?

You often ask the same people. Look back at what they said vs what transpired then perhaps ask others.
1/🧵 One of my faves from Jan 22:
"We're almost there, it is now the beginning of the end, at least in the UK," Prof Julian Hiscox, chairman in infection and global health at the University of Liverpool, tells me. "I think life in 2022 will be almost back to before the pandemic."
2/

It's not too late to take a more proactive approach towards protecting yourself from infectious diseases this winter & beyond.

Making it less likely you suffer bad illness, disability or death shouldn't be a hard sell.

Only ineptitude from Gov'ts & Public Heath made it so.
1/🧵 Think before you breathe.
Inhaling infectious aerosols is the most likely way to get infected.
A well fitting N95/FFP2 or above will significantly reduce your chances of inhaling enough particles to make you ill.
Consider where you go, who with & for how long.
Outdoors safer.
2/

I've always thought that infectious diseases are best avoided.
I feel sure most people felt this way too prior to Covid.
Now it feels most are happy to ignore them completely.
So what changed for the majority?
Quite a puzzle really but here are some thoughts:
1/🧵 I'd say first has to be that people assume that those in power:
a) Inform them truthfully about risk
b) Care about them
Reasonable assumptions but both are false and whilst that is demonstrably the case, people still believe both a) and b) to be true.
2/

Some lovely replies to this wishing Kelly well. Thank you all.
What I guess my message doesn't portray is that this isn't out of the ordinary. With a complex chronic illness, this is the reality of day-to-day life.
But many conditions can only be self-managed to a point.
1/thread

https://twitter.com/PeteUK7/status/1732786949943918985

You see, since I started to get to know Kelly, she has taught me a great deal. A reality check of sorts.
Understanding just how micromanaged pretty much every hour needs to be for her chronic complex condition was not something I truly appreciated beforehand.
2/

Some personal stories shared here in this 🧵.

They describe how clinically vulnerable people are affected by the ongoing high & constantly unsafe levels of Covid in circulation.

Wonderful effort @cv_cev in putting this all together.

Please spend a few minutes to listen 🙏
1/🧵 2/

https://x.com/cv_cev/status/1730270473655623741?s=20