Violet Affleck’s comments on the COVID-19 Pandemic at the UN today:

“Young people lacked both real choice in the matter & information about what was being chosen for us.”🎯

🧵/1

https://twitter.com/luckytran/status/1970607894635704718

“Here is what we know about SARS-CoV-2:

👉 It’s airborne; floating & lingering in the air.

👉 One infection can result in disabling damage to almost every cell in the body from the brain & heart to the nerves & blood vessels.”

/2

“The study authors found that of the truly asymptomatic cases they analyzed, nearly 47% were children & 20% were elderly. This age discrepancy was significant.” /1 “This is not entirely surprising because the elderly tend to have multiple medical conditions, & they are among the most vulnerable population to infection…”/2

“…take proper precautions to keep yourself from being infected…Don't listen to those politicians & such who have tried to politicize the heck out of proven infectious disease control measures. For example, N95 respirators…”😷
🧵/1

https://twitter.com/bhanlon15/status/1883890021863985463

2/“…N95 respirators are designed to block small particles like viruses. Wearing such face masks can effectively cut down respiratory virus transmission as long as the masks fit and are worn properly.”😷

“When people see me in a mask, they’re reminded of the acute phase of the pandemic. My presence confronts them with an uncomfortable truth: their refusal to mask contributes to the deaths & disabling of others. It reveals they may not be as caring as they like to think.”🎯 🧵/1 “If we continue as we are, everyone will eventually develop #LongCovid. Those who still mask are only delaying the inevitable because we’re so outnumbered.” /2

“Denial is a powerful, usually unconscious defense mechanism that shields individuals from uncomfortable or distressing realities. By repressing objective facts or experiences— especially those that provoke fear or anxiety— people can maintain a sense of stability…”🧵/1 “Historically, denial was vital to daily life. With little protection against illnesses like smallpox, tuberculosis or plague, people would have been immobilized by fear if not for the ability to repress reality.”/2

Can @UFT explain why COVID-19 is not on this list of 27 “diseases & ailments you may encounter as a public school educator” while 1.2 million people in the U.S. are getting infected daily?

Was this accidental or intentional?

Teachers, students & families deserve to know!🤷‍♀️/1

Because…

Teachers deserve to be informed & protected at work!

Students deserve to be protected at school.

Families, friends, neighbors & strangers who they interact with deserve to be protected too.

None of them deserve to be harmed! /2

I received this text from our school district yesterday…& decided to reply!
/1 “Thanks for the reminder. Please make sure my child’s classrooms are ready for the first day of school by having good ventilation 🪟, adequate filtration (HEPA), CO2 monitors for teachers, encouraging masking, testing, staying home when sick, & educating families…”/2

“During the pandemic, masks became a symbol of divisiveness, enraging sectors of our society who thought mask mandates took away personal freedoms. The freedom to get sick & infect others, I suppose.”

🧵👇of full article by @missleetulloch 🫶🥇

h/t @CrabbBrendan

/1 “I'm sick of getting sick on planes.

I got another case of COVID-19 last month, on a domestic flight, sitting near a woman who was sneezing. I wore an N95 mask but she was wearing only the loose surgical type. I suspect she knew she was infectious.” /2

“We are completely under-investigating this virus,” said Douglas C. Wallace, a University of Pennsylvania geneticist & evolutionary biologist. “The effects of repeatedly getting this throughout our lives is going to be much more significant than people are thinking.”🎯/1 “…a University of Colorado team is studying whether covid reawakens dormant cancer cells in mice. Their provocative findings…showed that when mice that were cancer survivors were infected with SARS-CoV-2, dormant cancer cells proliferated in the lungs.”😳/2

Excellent article! What struck me…districts that skimped or refused layered protections & remote options may ultimately pay the price by now needing to accommodate #LongCovidKids w/ remote options & more, or the lawsuits that come if they fail to. 🤦‍♀️
edweek.org/leadership/tho… This info is important for parents, teachers, school leaders, docs, nurses, public health depts & electeds who set policy yet paywalled for many, so here are highlighted pages 1-4 of 9.
HT @scott_squires