🛑 Stop saying “post-pandemic”
🛑 Stop saying “post-pandemic”
Also stop already with things like ”during covid” or the euphemism “the next pandemic” or that ridiculously pretentious “the end of the pandemic era” and so forth. It’s played out and rude.
It’s deeply rude to the people who died of covid just last week. It’s offensive to the many people that are unable to function this week because they are sick due to the ongoing scourge. And let’s consider how remissly disrespectful it is considering people enduring the secondary pandemic of Long Covid.
”post-pandemic”
”post covid”
”during covid”
”back during the pandemic”
“for the pandemic”
”end of the pandemic era”
”after the pandemic”
”the next pandemic”
”during covid times”
Just stop with that already.
I think “during covid times” and “back during covid” are the worst because it’s some mangled version of Covid-19 Lockdown Revisionism - that even one NPI in place is given the viral frame of lockdown, no matter how inaccurate.1
It also invokes a narrow window of time early in the pandemic when most people really were concerned about the virus and on the same page, and the reckless fringe were scorned by the public and officially condemned.2 People don’t like getting sick, and people were moved by stories of hospitals overloaded. So in most regions, people behaved in ways to not get & spread it almost entirely by choice, with little enforcement of the few rules that actually existed in some very specific places, and most people were totally on board for them because the rules were mainly about leadership. But now some people feel they have to pretend it was involuntary and extensive. Covid contrarians.
One must accept that the pandemic continues. Covid isn’t over. But leadership needs to be saying it,3 and public health officials should be saying it too.4 Because we should consider this - if it was a thing of the past, why would people keep mentioning it? If things are back to normal, why do they have to keep announcing it’s time to get back to normal? People who say this are forcing normal5 or they’re doing some kind of Edward Bernays style PR nonsense.6 Either way it’s dishonest and foolish. Some are clearly being paid to push a narrative with very particular language, as well as what language is being excluded,7 to promote economic activity that keeps the fossil fuel industry and others profiting.8 Maybe for some it’s wishful thinking, but even so, the toxic positivity is unacceptable.
And let’s say there were not pervasive worldwide outbreaks so that it was no longer a pandemic by definition9 - if it’s endemic, that effectively means permanent infection controls. Where malaria is endemic, they don’t stop using mosquito nets — the use of mosquito nets is standard — and sometimes it’s mandated in malaria endemic regions.10 You wouldn’t say “back during malaria” if you’re currently sitting in a malarious region right now! And we’re living in a covidous region nearly everywhere in the world at this time, because a pandemic is still going on - by definition.
But hey, last week the fire department kept that entire neighborhood from burning down, maybe we don’t need a fire brigade, we’re post-fire, right. What? No.
I’m worried a willful blind denial might lead us to move backwards, to a time before any emergency responder infrastructure. A time before Marcus Egnatius Rufus in 19 BCE Rome for example. Ancient Rome had some pretty impressive infrastructure but at that time there were no fire departments - the only security forces were private guards of the rich. Of course ordinary Romans wanted these services because fires were common, but when Egnatius Rufus organized a fire brigade in his city, the Emperor Augustus was against it, and when Egnatius Rufus ran for consul, Augustus disapproved, some scholars say because he knew that the fire department policy was so popular it could make Egnatius Rufus politically unbeatable, so Augustus blocked his candidacy, which led to people protesting in riots. Egnatius Rufus was labeled as a conspirator & executed. Later, Augustus set up the same type of fire brigade that Egnatius Rufus had.11
Public health infrastructure will progress, despite the opposition. But it will depend upon today’s Sanitarians stepping up the way public health activists did in the 1920s.12 But for now, I can’t think of a reason to say something as ridiculous as “post pandemic” or any of the other iterations.
References:
The term “lockdown” has become a powerful and perverted word in the infodemic about democracies’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown, as used in public discourse, has expanded to include any public health measure, even if it places little to no restriction on social mobility or interaction. For example, a working literature review and meta-analysis on the effects of lockdowns on COVID-19 mortality misleadingly defined lockdowns as “the imposition of at least 1 compulsory non-pharmaceutical intervention.”1 This working paper therefore conflated mandatory isolation for people with confirmed infections and masking policies with heavy-handed limitations on freedom of movement, and since it gained viral fame, it has helped fuel calls for “no more lockdowns.”
According to arrest papers, Cirko said "I have the virus, now you are all going to get sick," before coughing on the food displays. Store officials say is known to them, and describe her as a nuisance. Authorities do not believe the woman is infected with COVID-19, but she was taken to the hospital to be tested as a precaution, and also underwent a mental evaluation.
The false narrative that the “pandemic has receded” is actually a symptom of politicians ignoring its ongoing toll. The White House still needs to lead our covid fight; the tools are there. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid Data Tracker shows that those with the updated booster are 14 times less likely to die of covid than the unvaccinated. Paxlovid appears to reduce the chance of death and severe disease by 51 percent or better. Data still shows that air-quality measures such as better ventilation, opening bus windows, upgrading indoor air filtration and masking all help control the spread of the coronavirus. Having just 16 percent of the U.S. population with the updated vaccine is not “mission accomplished.” Uptake of Paxlovid is pitifully low. Schools fail to use covid relief funds to improve safety. More than 1.1 million Americans have perished from covid, and we must do better. The pandemic is not over, and our leaders need to say so.
Feng Hao: “But even if we are tired of the pandemic, the pandemic is still there. That is one message that the public health official wants to deliver to say that well the risk is still there and we still have to wear a mask we still have to be vaccinated. It’s necessary.”
The party photos from the roaring twenties are all from private archives of wealthy elite. That’s who was partying hard to the point of absurdity in the 1920s.13 The whole period of epidemics and life-threatening infectious disease was somehow memory holed behind a plastered patina of partying pics of elite ladies with bobbed hair smoking in public and their attentive dandies in boater derby hats, supposedly letting loose after the danger of the flu had passed, even though it’s debated whether it had any relation to the pandemic.(ibid.) The Sanitarians knew. Things were not actually safe at this time. This was before the antibiotic era and before the push for public health interventions people died “easily and frequently” from infections.14 The roaring 20s were a time when many people were not roaring but instead hobbled with infections and wailing over the untimely passing of loved ones. Deaths from infection were not uncommon, nor was disturbing and disruptive infectious disease. Not just in 1918 from flu, but through additional surges of flu through the 1920s,15 and other types of infections or infections undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.16
Tweet from @reubenR80027912 dated 1019 am May 7, 2021 says Main Street is Very simple. Do 3 things PSA campaigns that you won’t die if vaxxed. Remind people kids aren’t a risk. Remove masks everywhere so people don’t constantly live in fear. Voila. Roaring economy. Spending is about freedom from fear.
A Pandemic Podcast - Episode 8 - Social Framing of Airborne Illness
There are some big ideas in this episode that help make sense of how so many people are turning away from the truth, while Cheryl, Chris, and Kay refuse to look away. They deconstruct what is happening and analyze what language is being used, and insightfully, what language is being excluded.
One sector in particular that took a big hit was the fossil fuel industry. Oil demand fell sharply in 2020, placing the global economy on uncertain footing. Before long, business-aligned groups — particularly those connected to fossil fuels — began targeting the public health measures threatening their bottom lines. Chief among them were groups tied to billionaire Charles Koch, owner of Koch Industries, the largest privately held fossil fuel company in the world. The war on public health measures began on March 20, 2020, when Americans For Prosperity (AFP), the right-wing nonprofit founded by Charles and David Koch, issued a press release calling on states to remain open.
Merriam-Webster dictionary since 1828 - entry for pandemic
Definition of pandemic (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : occurring over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affecting a significant proportion of the population. Definition of pandemic (Entry 2 of 2) 1 : an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affects a significant proportion of the population : a pandemic outbreak of a disease
If you’re travelling to a malaria-endemic area, a mosquito net should be on your list of essential travel supplies. Malaria is transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito that bites humans from dusk to dawn. The Anopheles mosquito is stealthy and silent. They don’t buzz so you can’t hear them approaching. This means you are a prime target when you are most vulnerable — asleep. Bed nets are a key defence against malaria, but they also offer protection from other diseases such as filariasis (known for massive swelling of the limbs) and other insects and arachnids like ticks, beetles, flies, and spiders. Remember that in malarious areas, insecticide-treated mosquito nets are required in bedrooms without tightly-fitting window screens or broken screens Bed nets are not required in buildings with sealed windows and central air conditioning.
Marcus Egnatius Rufus - Wikipedia
Marcus Egnatius Rufus (d. 19 BCE in Rome) was a Roman senator and politician at the time of Augustus. In 22 BCE he served as an aedile and became very popular with the residents of Rome by setting up a private fire brigade. In contrast to earlier enterprises of this kind, which, like the fire brigade of Marcus Licinius Crassus, only worked for payment, Egnatius made the 600 slaves he financed available free of charge to fight fires. Because of the numerous fires in the city he gained great popularity and was elected praetor as early as 21 BCE without observing the usual waiting period.[1][2] In 19 BCE he stood for election as consul, but the consul Gaius Sentius Saturninus prevented this, probably at the instigation of Augustus. Egnatius was accused of conspiring against Augustus. Seneca includes him in the multiple conspiracy and assassination attempts against Augustus.[3] The Senate passed the senatus consultum ultimum, an emergency measure suspending usual procedures, for the last time we know of and Egnatius was imprisoned and executed with some of his followers.[1][4] Karl-Wilhelm Weeber claims that Augustus saw Egnatius as a political competitor who could have become dangerous to the princeps because of his popularity with the people.[5] After Egnatius' death, Augustus set up his own fire brigade, which also consisted of 600 slaves, and later, in 7 or 6 BCE the fire brigade was enlarged, now consisting of 3,500 freedmen, the vigiles, who were divided into seven cohorts of 500 men each and made subordinate to a praefectus vigilum.[6] In about 200 CE their number was doubled to 7000 men.
Pass the Parker Bill-A vigorous resolution urging Congress to pass the Parker Bill for federal health coordination over the veto of the President was adopted by the Association at its 57th Annual Meeting in Chicago in October, 1928. The second session of the Seventieth Congress convenes December 3, 1928, and will adjourn March 3, 1929. The time for action is short, but there is time enough for this desirable procedure. The principles of the Parker Bill have been indorsed by the American Public Health Association every year since 1925, and Congress finally adopted the measure, somewhat amended, in May, 1928. Apparently due to the influence of General H. M. Lord, Director of the Budget, President Coolidge vetoed the bill on May 18, giving as reasons the fact that one section was considered un- constitutional and that the bill tended to " militarize " the U. S. Public Health Service. The palpable fallacies of these arguments have already been discussed in this department. Though the Parker Bill by the amendments lost a certain effectiveness, it is still a very important measure, especially in its provisions for allowing the detail of U. S. Public Health Service personnel to other government bureaus; in granting a commissioned status to sanitary engineers and other scientific personnel of the service; in providing for a Nurse Corps; and in setting up a national advisory health council. Sanitarians are still interested in this excellent measure and keenly desirous that it be passed now. If it is not, the bill must be reintroduced and passed all over again in the next Congress. It would be helpful if sanitarians would communicate with their United States Senators and Representatives regarding this important matter. Do it now.