I teach patho to nursing students. Every semester since spring of 2020, I have taught about Covid. And every semester to have to change my lecture to keep up with new data. I was teaching Covid this semester and I told them that if nothing else, understand the science 1/n
A teacher colleague of mine, in his early 40s, caught COVID again late last year and was off sick for 3 weeks. He said he had never been so ill before.
Since then, he's had repeated days off sick.
I spoke to him yesterday for the first time in a while.
He was seriously ill. He is struggling with his memory and his health.
He knows COVID caused this.
Yet he doesn't protect himself and is off to a super-spreading event to expose himself to more risk.
Make it make sense.
He admitted that he is really struggling after his COVID infection.
What was very notable was that he struggled to remember things.
He was unable to finish sentences because he couldn't remember the words or couldn't remember what he was going to say.
Yet there he was, in school, unmasked.
It was the end of the day on Friday and he was about to head off to join many other teacher colleagues at a local bar for drinks.
#Covid
Teaching is a high risk profession for exposure to many pathogens, including SC2.
Layers of protection lower your risk of infection.
1) masks (well fitter respirators)
It's been a long year, but I'm here.
I consistently masked every single day at school and didn't have a single day off sick.
There was one other teacher who masked all year, too. He wasn't sick either.
Mass denial: another example.
A while ago, I posted about a teacher colleague who is struggling following his COVID infection last October.
The colleague has been off sick for the past 2 months, with symptoms that sound exactly like Long COVID.
It's parent teacher evening tonight.
2 hours of face to face meetings with parents.
Usual precautions in place:
Alsonooen windows and basic mechanical ventilation.
CO2 holding at 500ppm
Hi, I'm Chris.
I live in Italy and I refuse to accept that infections and re-infections are inevitable.
I refuse to infect my wife or anyone I meet, especially those who are vulnerable.
I refuse to infect myself and risk my own longterm health too.
I used to get sick 3-5 times a year.
Thanks to the pandemic I learned a simple solution.
Once you understand how a disease spreads, you can prevent it.
We did it with Cholera (clean water).
We can do it with airborne diseases too.
#MasksWork
#Ventialtion
#HEPA
We've been warned of a confirmed case of whooping cough at school.
In the notice, they mention it being spread by droplets when people cough.
* IT * IS * AIRBORNE *
When will they stop with this droplet dogma?
I referred to Long COVID repeatedly. They just ignored me and went on talking about burnout.
The mass denial was so obvious to me.
They don't want to acknowledge COVID or Long COVID even when it is in front of them.
I had hoped people would start to change their minds about the risks of COVID as the evidence becomes clearer.
I now think this won't happen and people will live in denial.
How do we combat this?
@dgurdasani1
It's the UK's loss & Australia's gain.
More importantly, you've done what is right for you and you're family.
I sincerely hope that the move works out well for you and that you can flourish there.
I also hope that you can continue providing your valuable insights here on Twitter
I've received two emails in the past two days about students I teach.
1) 17-year student who has been off sick has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
2) 15-year student was sick over half term and has been hospitalised with bacterial pneumonia.
@DonEford
@WikiDocJames
"Symptoms" are caused by our immune system mobilising against the virus.
Vaccinated or previously infected will mount an earlier response than unvaxxed because their immune system is primed to recognise the virus.
Hence symptoms appear before viral load high enough for a LFT
#masks
#running
In a couple of weeks, I'll be doing my first competitive race in a long time.
A 10km race in The Hague.
I consider this a high-risk activity. I'll be close to other people who are breathing out large quantities of aerosols.
I will be running in a mask.
He came into school yesterday to say hello to a few of us, and I was one of the first he bumped into.
He confirmed to me that he had been off with "post-COVID complications". He wouldn't use the phrase "Long COVID" despite me using it.
The other colleagues immediately jumped on the "burnout" explanation.
They showed great empathy.
They offered a mountain of advice about the damage burnout can cause and how to avoid it.
@1goodtern
@ttfntas
I try to project an air of normalacy around my masking.
I don't apologise for it or explain it; I just do it and carry on as normal. Colleagues and pupils are used to my mask and don't even mention it any more.
A few other teachers started to join the conversation.
He reaffirmed to them that he had "post-COVID complications".
As an afterthought, he added: "...and maybe a bit of burnout".
A teacher colleague told me she lost 20% of her hearing after her last COVID infection.
Every lesson I have 2-3 students off sick.
Some of them are sick for at least 1 week.
This is not normal.
#CovidIsntOver
@1goodtern
@MeetJess
@JuneSim63
@RichardJMurphy
Exactly this.
They need a desperate workforce, who will accept low wages and poor working conditions.
If too many were comfortably off, they wouldn't accept the shit jobs on offer and the rich wouldn't make the profits they currently do.
@stefan_3d
@MeetJess
Agreed about multiple colds.
As a teacher, I used to get 4-5 a year.
But that all changed since COVID came along.
I now mask everywhere and haven't had a cold since Nov 2019.
#MasksWork
.
@dgurdasani1
There are 1000s of cardiologists that they could have invited on to talk about statins.
They chose the one who is a well known anti-vaxxer.
They should have seen this coming yet still gave him a platform.
@SMpwrgr
Because the truth is becoming more and more obvious.
The MSM is now trying to create the narrative that they were warning us of the dangers all along (some people have short memories, but not us).
@BBCNews
The evidence for high-grade masks is not weak.
What was weak were the excuses given to the COVID enquiry by those in power, who made bad decisions.
@RobertBarnes542
Today - FFP3 whilst teaching; and every previous day in this pandemic (FFP2 before Omicron came along).
I also wear a mask in supermarkets and any other public indoor space.
@mobydickenergy
@lisa_iannattone
There's also some trying to re-write history to fit their narrative.
E.g. exaggerating the length and impact of lockdowns so they can blame them for everything.
Will future historians read these alternate accounts and have a false picture of this era?
@trishgreenhalgh
The failure wasn't the lockdowns (they were necessary at the time). The failure was to put in place long-term mitigations: - ventilation / filtration / farUV and use high quality masks until those upgrades were in place.
The lockdowns bought us time, but we squandered it.
@anna_de_garis
You are doing the right thing:
- protecting your health
- showing leadership
- learning not to bow to peer pressure.
You're an amazing young lady!
@Tomo54192767
@tigresseleanor
No one else around me is masked. I mask to protect myself (and by extension, my wife).
The chances of me being infected are small since I always mask and take other precautions, such as HEPA.
Others around me are welcome to mask too if they want to protect themselves.
@RealSexyCyborg
Debate is a poor platform for discussing science.
If your opponent sites a study you've not seen, you need time to read it and understand it's methodologies and limitations before responding.
You can't do that in a live debate.
@Sandyboots2020
@bphillipsonMP
@LBC
It's the typical delaying tactic of someone trying to avoid doing the obvious.
The Bradford trial is not the only trial to show the benefits of clean air.
And where are the peer reviewed studies showing it is safe to send sick kids back to school or to wash hands more?
@oldfshndanne
His story doesn't even sound true.
There were no lockdowns lasting 6 months in Ireland.
Unless he means 3 months in 2020 and another 3 months in 2021?
And I doubt he was isolated, just not at school with his friends.
@CPita3
Worked as a teacher throughout the pandemic.
Almost all of last year was in person.
I worn 3M Aura FFP3 at all times; never unmasked in school; always ate alone. I asked my students to mask (voluntary) & most did (usually surgical)
Never caught COVID; nearly all my colleagues did
@CarolynNickelo
You've laid it out perfectly.
Alas I'm in a country that is not taking COVID seriously & has made min. effort to make schools safer.
The school tow the gov. line & are unwilling to do more.
Now the Dutch gov. plan to lift all restrictions.
I've had enough. I can't do this anymore
Just overheard this comment in the staffroom:
"I've now got a cold because I left a window open last night"
#CovidIsntOver
How do these myths still persist?
@1goodtern
Similar for me.
As a teacher I used to get 4-5 respiratory infections a year. At least 2 would be bad enough to put me in bed for a few days.
I've masked since the start of the pandemic and I've not had a respiratory infection since Nov 2019.
I like not being ill.
@AndyGJBurge
UK egg farmers are pulling out of the market because it is no longer profitable. Their costs have gone up, but they aren't being paid more by the supermarkets. So when their current laying hens reached end of productive life, they didn't get more.
@makeupartist524
I don't get it either.
The anti-maskers pushed so hard for personal freedom. Personal freedom includes the right to wear a mask, so why are they so angry at us?
When they see a stranger in a mask, they have no idea what that persons story is and why they want to wear one.
@doctor_oxford
@LibDemPatrick
@PeterStefanovi2
@JoFroggatt
@ITV
Thank you for acknowledging the ongoing risks of COVID and longCOVD; and for recognising that good PPE can protect the wearer (but it does need to fit well).
This was an opportunity to model behaviours that would protect so many, by making masking visible to the world.
@DarrenFlicker
Italy:
- compulsory masks in school (in corridors and in lessons)
- Green pass (vaccine passport) required for teacher and parents to come onto premises.
- Green pass also needed at many other work places
- Masks required in all indoor spaces
- many wearing masks outdoors too
@AlterIvan1
@sameo416
100% this.
I've stopped getting sick since I started wearing respirator masks (FFP3 for me).
And that's as a teacher who used to get sick 3-6 times a year pre-pandemic.
I love staying fit and healthy.
@Francis_Watts
I did my masters in exercise physiology.
Your lungs (& the air you are able to breathe) is not the limiting factor in VO2 max (unless you have a serious lung disease).
The mask is highly breathable & did not inhibit me at all.
After a while, it got too moist so I switched masks.
@saitken67
I've heard of much younger people having heart attacks post COVID.
Someone I follow in her 20s. She has long COVID and had a heart attack following her second infection.
My students are aware of a 17 year girls who also had a heart attack post COVID.
(Both survived thankfully)
@WicMar
Not been sick since November 2019, since I started masking.
As I leaned more, I upped my mask game and now use 3M Aura ffp3. They are amazing masks. Breathable, comfortable and easy ti talk through.
I wear them all day whilst teaching no problem.
@NateB_Panic
Europe & North America are having a mini respite from the virus, with low levels of the virus detected in wastewater. Warm weather & school holidays may be helping.
What is happening in Uruguay & Japan is what we will likely see from Sept. when school start & temperatures drop.
@Big_Worker
@chantz_y
Most of are not asking to go back into lockdown.
We are asking for appropriate mitigations that allow us to carry on with our lives in a safer environment.
E.g. mask mandates (respirators)
Clean air (filtration/ventilation)
Testing & isolation if positive (with financial support)
@ModelAyshaMirza
I love reading your posts & the positivity you bring.
You're so right to say that mask advocacy helps others stay strong.
I also agree that your health is private.
I keep catching myself explaining that I mask to protect my wife's health. Yet her health is none of their business.
I've Just received my box of Dräger 1900 ffp3 masks.
I'm going to give these a try for a few weeks to see if they are a good alternative to 3M Aura 9330.
@RussInCheshire
@MrsArcanum
Half the Netherlands will be gone!
All the people living in those red areas, worldwide, will have to migrate to higher ground somewhere.
There's going to be mass migration and even more pressure on the remaining inhabitable land.
Up early and on my way to Schipol airport (and the horendous queues).
Good bye Netherlands.
It's time for a new chapter in my life.
I need to find a place that is safer, more caring and doesn't put profit before all else.
@CRobertson_LD
Where is your evidence that "pulling sickies" has increased since 2020?
I'm not denying sickies don't happen. But we are still in a pandemic with a virus that causes immune disregulation & increases chances of other infections.
@RussInCheshire
A lot of people are under the impression that are driver crisis is all about EU drivers leaving the UK and returning home. But that is only a part of the problem.
Cabotage is another major cause...
@brownecfm
Some think it's down to luck that we've stayed infection free, and eventually, our luck will run out.
The more I wear a mask, the luckier I get.
The more I clean the air, the luckier I get.
The intersection of multiple small probabilites is tiny.
We are very pleased to say that
@TheGreenParty
policy statement on
#Covid
and
#LongCovid
that passed the rapid approval process, has now been voted through at conference and will be added to the party's record of policy statements.
#GPC24
1/
@CRobertson_LD
Great.
We already knew this.
But what are you going to do about the main cause of absence - sickness?
Forcing sick kids into school will actually make the problem worse.
@YouAreLobbyLud
I agree - too many are in denial or have been gaslit into thinking COVID is over.
We have to try and stay safe until the damage is undeniable and society finally wakes up.
@AndyGJBurge
Some have suggested bird flu is also having an impact.
Maybe it is, but I'm not seeing egg shortages where I am in Italy (and we have bird flu here too).
@RussInCheshire
That has all gone, because EU shipments to UK have dried up and many EU based drivers now refuse to deliver to the UK (due to customs delays; for which they are not paid).
Cabotage was a part of the UK delivery network and it has now gone.
@jane_wendi
@laurajoh_
If the store owner is so worried about "customer situations" that require him to protect himself, perhaps he should stay home and close his store?
@1goodtern
The president of the Italian Republic has just announced the pandemic is over here.
I'm a suckered for punishment and want to move to a country that still has a pandemic.
I somehow feel that place will be safer.
We had a close encounter today.
We met up with an old friend for coffee, outside.
We had masked all the way there and we're still masked when we sat down.
Colleague arrives and announces he has a "cold".
We kept masks on and did not have a coffee.
@Femi_Sorry
@andywigmore
@DavidLammy
@LeaveEUOfficial
I would also pull him up on the word "mandate". Since when does an advisory referendum, narrowly won by lying, foreign interference, illegal use of data and electoral fraud amount to a mandate?
@RussInCheshire
Cabotage is the right for foreign drivers / firms to operate in the UK.
Pre-brexit, overseas drivers / hauliers would bring a delivery by ferry to the UK and deliver it to its destination.
But they won't drive back empty.
They would pick up and deliver other loads on route.
An Englishman and an Italian, from the Netherlands, walk into a GP practice in France and get a booster vaccine.
This is not a joke...
❤❤❤ Thank you France.
@KateBurkeNHS
I live in the Netherlands & the law is in favour of cyclists.
In the event of an accident, the cyclists is seen as the vulnerable party & the motorist is deemed at fault, even if the cyclist was in the wrong. It makes a huge difference in driver attitudes towards cyclists.
@Ka81
@northernruth
Schools need to give more thought to which rules make a difference to educational outcomes & which are pointless.
I now teach at a school without a uniform & I think it is so much better. I don't need to tell students to tuck shirts in or do up ties.
@terrawuzhere
@Ka81
@northernruth
Uniform is just one example.
I agree about the pen (or calculator). I just lend them one & remind them to bring it next time. If they persistently forget, I contact home & ask the parents to support their child to bring the right equipment.
It's better to encourage than to punish
@Reggie58374506
@DrWaheedArian
Refugees are entitled to seek asylum in any country.
The UK has a boarder post in France, which is technically British territory; but they prevent refugees from claiming asylum at the post.
The UK could either allow asylum applications made in France or provide safe passage.