📣 CDC public comment on vaccine access 😷 Masking with a beard ⚠️ Republicans AND Democrats pushing for right-wing mask bans already threatening the vulnerable
There are many people who now are diligent in remaining clean shaven in order to get a tight fit on N95s. But some people have various reasons for not wanting to shave their beards. And I often hear about people who are especially looking for ways to navigate high exposure situations, especially airline travel. There was a recent report of a Vancouver BC to Houston Texas United Airlines flight that had some sort of severe outbreak of illness among people who’d been on some cruise ship. And there was a study published last month on the risk of covid on airline flights that found that particularly long-haul flights were high risk for transmission. The study also reported: “On long haul-type flights where enforced masking took place and meals were served, there were no reported aircraft-acquired cases during contact tracing and follow-up. Enforced masking may have encouraged passengers to eat as quickly as possible on these long flights.” But unfortunately flights don’t appear to be enforcing masking at all anymore, so it’s up to individuals to choose the most effective masking possible while traveling.
In 2020 there was a research paper published about bearded Sikh dentists who found a way to both keep their beards AND pass N95 fit testing. The “Singh Thattha technique” uses elastic exercise bands. The important point the authors say is, “the final arbiter of face-mask fit is a fit test…”
There are options for fit test kits available, including some more affordable at home options. There are also many local mask organizations that raise funds to distribute free respirator masks and some of these also offer fit-testing resources and events.
Gothamist - Gov. Hochul considering banning people from wearing masks on NYC subways - By Jon Campbell Published Jun 13, 2024 In a news conference at the state Capitol on Thursday, Hochul said she has started discussions with Mayor Eric Adams and state lawmakers about what a mask crackdown would look like and how to craft exemptions for health and religious reasons. The mayor’s office confirmed it was looking into the issue. But Hochul made clear she wants to see mask restrictions in some form, which she believes would help deter crime on public transit.
Ottawa Citizen - 'I was shocked': Ontario to cancel widely used wastewater surveillance program - "When the next one hits us, that knowledge is going to be important and I am just worried that we will lose it.” Elizabeth Payne - Published Jun 04, 2024 Its closure comes at a time when COVID-19 is again beginning to spread through the world after a lull and when the United States and other countries are ramping up wastewater surveillance programs to warn about the possible spread of H5N1 avian influenza. In response to a question on Tuesday, Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, said the provincial program was being wound down to avoid duplication with federal wastewater testing. “The federal government conducts wastewater surveillance and is moving to expand its sampling to additional sites in Ontario,” Wheeler said. Wheeler said Ontario was “working to support this expansion” while winding down its wastewater surveillance initiative. He said the Ministry of Health would work with the Public Health Agency of Canada on a data-sharing agreement “to ensure that the province can continue to analyze Ontario specific wastewater data.” The decision to stop funding has come as a shock to researchers who developed the program and to public health officials.
Post on twitter by CDC @CDCgov #LongCOVID is a serious public health concern that affects millions of people across the U.S. @NASEM_Health released a new report helping to further define Long COVID as a chronic condition. Read more about Long COVID and the new report: https://bit.ly/3mGtyny 3:49 PM · Jun 12, 2024 · 217.9K Views The image is a photo with CDC included Image description: “Masked woman speaking to a physician.”
The physician is unmasked, and the BIPOC woman Long Covid patient is depicted wearing the mask that is labeled N95 but appears to have ear loops - even though N95s always have head straps. It also appears to be worn upside down. Other people in the replies found the original unmasked photo showing how the image was poorly photoshopped. CDC should at least do better than this.
He(a)rd Scuttlebutt… pandemic grapevine 🍇🌱
Stigma has always made it easy for people to spread dubious rumours during disease outbreaks.
Conspiracy theories and stigma have always been associated with infectious disease outbreaks. You only need to read histories of the many plagues and pandemics and diseases throughout history to know this. Anyone blaming disinformation on scientists for “losing the public’s trust” is intentionally or unintentionally, creating a decoy misdirection that gives cover to the real causes and deflects from real solutions. Are some scientists bad, untrustworthy, or inept? Of course some are. Did some prominent doctors and scientists botch their leadership in the pandemic? Yes, some trusted people really dropped the ball with dipshit decisions. But the people to blame are the people with money, platforms, and power spreading disinformation on purpose about things that aren’t real or aren’t true. They include scientists, but doctors and scientists pushing nonsense are more likely to be useful fools drinking their own elixirs, or mercenary types who’ve found a way to make money. And all these people are simply taking advantage of typical human cognitive biases and tendencies. They use established advertising and sales techniques. It’s not accidental, it’s deliberate.
This propaganda feedback loop demonstrates the power of inundation, repetition, emotional/social contagions, and personality bias confirmations, as well as demonstrating behaviours of people preferring to access entertaining content that does not require ‘System 2’ critical thought. Audiences encountered multiple versions of the same story, propagated over months, through their favoured media sources, to the point where both recall and credibility were enhanced, fact-checkers were overwhelmed and a ‘majority illusion’ was created.333 from CASSANDRA BROOKER Australian Army Occasional Paper No. 8 The Effectiveness of Influence Activities in Information Warfare
