Message for anyone who has ever "stood up to cancer" by completing a Terry Fox Run, donating money, wearing a ribbon, etc.: there is something simple you can do —today— to reduce cancer deaths: wear an N95/FFP2+ mask indoors.
Who knows, your kind act may even save your own life.
Anything that encourages, enables, or forces members of a specific group to put themselves in comparatively deadly situations but does not directly kill them is passive eugenics.
4/4
Message for anyone who has ever "stood up to cancer" by completing a Terry Fox Run, donating money, wearing a ribbon, etc.: there is something simple you can do —today— to reduce cancer deaths: wear an N95/FFP2+ mask indoors.
Who knows, your kind act may even save your own life.
Researchers in Germany recently studied the impact that COVID mitigation measures had on pediatric cancer patients.
A thread with my thoughts as the parent of a pediatric cancer patient in a world that is no longer applying these measures…
Reminder:
Respirators, ventilation & air filtration all get rid of covid in a room.
Respirators are better at preventing near-field transmission. Ventilation & filtration are better at preventing far-field transmission. Both strategies together work better than 1 or the other.
@pxnzischemes
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind."
- C. S. Lewis
@1goodtern
1. Every covid infection damages your body, whether you notice the damage or not.
2. Covid can produce profound long-term suffering.
3. LC affects people just like you.
4. LC has no cure.
5. LC can be prevented by N95s & air cleaning but not by diet & exercise & moral virtue.
Wait for it... 🧵
Doctors and nurses in various parts of the world are reporting that the current situation is as bad as — or worse than — at any other time during the pandemic.
1/11
Canadian ER doctor says wait times are the 'worst it's ever been'
« We’ve got people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them »
It may seem surprising when aerosol scientists, filtration experts, and occupational hygienists don't protect themselves from SARS2. After all, people who know
#CovidIsAirborne
should know to
#MaskUp
, right? But that's not how human nature works.
1/14
I am seriously upset that so many smart educated people surround me at a meeting with ZERO masks & look at me like they do not understand why I am still wearing one. Literally only 3/130 smart people who understand airflow are wearing a mask at this conference I am attending.
@IrisParkerAU
I hear you. Whether it's passive or active, eugenics is often very deliberate, and often involves torture. Both forms seem to fall under the definition of homicide.
What do you call it when you know your body might be full of deadly poison, but instead of blocking the poison, you breathe it out at people, and someone else breathes it in and dies?
First the virus came for the elders
And I masked, distanced, and sanitized
Because I cared about others.
Then the virus came for the poor and marginalized
And I unmasked, socialized, and stigmatized
Because I was tired and uncomfortable.
>
Sometimes the odd one out is
#JustTryingToSurvive
.
Even if you don't normally wear a mask, it's kind to
#MaskUp
whenever you see someone else wearing one. (
#MirrorMasking
)
Stay well, Bill Hader.
(1)The person in charge of keeping the public healthy instead removed health protections.
(2)She manipulated this "protection variable" as part of a real-world experiment.
(3)Participants were denied informed consent.
(4)Participants did not even know they were in a study.
@1goodtern
Your tweet was just below this one, in which a nurse describes a new onslaught of young & otherwise healthy people with atypical fast-acting pneumonias negative for covid, flu, & RSV:
Then the virus came for me
And I learned what "medically vulnerable," "isolated," "locked down," "stigmatized," "tired," "uncomfortable," "poor," "marginalized," and "untreatable" really mean
Because no one was left to care for me.
@RachnaSinghNDP
@CDCofBC
@BCNDPCaucus
Oh and your former predecessor was concerned about effects on kids but your
@bcndp
GBD public health urgency of normal made the excuses. What bogus BC flying unicorn study do we get to see about this?
(5)To the extent participants were informed about risks, the experimenter was dishonest, claiming that the manipulation would not produce any meaningful effects (e.g., schools are safe, so masks don't make a difference), while the experimenter's own data suggested otherwise.
(6)Real potential risks were hidden.
(7)Potential risks (death, lifelong disability) were so severe that the study should never have gotten institutional ethics approval.
(8)Claims about potential benefits (herd/hybrid immunity, "priming exposure") were demonstrably false.
Top 16 reasons you think you don't know many people w/
#LongCovid
:
1. You don't know many people well enough to know their illnesses.
2. LC is mostly invisible.
3. People haven't connected the dots b/w their current illness & their covid infection.
where are they? Take diabetes for an example 28% of Canadians are diabetic or pre diabetic. That's almost 1 in 3 ... do you notice them? People don't walk around with T-shirts on listing their ailments, they struggle as best they can to function without anyone noticing.
(9)The experimenter's conflicts of interest (e.g., business interests in the hospitality industry, which benefitted in the short term from the variable manipulation; authorship of books that basically promote the hypothesis of the study) were not disclosed.
@wsbgnl
(For the record, $120,000 is almost *8 times* the annual income of a full-time federal-minimum-wage worker or a disabled person who cannot work. $8,000 is more than a minimum-wage earner makes in half a year.)
If the CDC stated, “The fact that 9/10 of people infected for over 3.5 years have not developed Long Covid is an encouraging indication that infection with this virus is not necessarily followed by rapid development of symptoms and death," would you feel encouraged?
From 1986 👇
One of my in-laws is still testing positive 2 weeks after first positive RAT. Was vaxed & got Pax. The nurse they spoke to said they were definitely no longer contagious, despite continuing to test positive on RATs. Can someone point me to evidence that + RAT means infectious?
(19)Instead of being condemned as a Mengele-style eugenics experiment, the study was submitted to a journal like any standard innocuous experiment.
(20)The experimenter benefits professionally from the publication of the study.
(16)The celebration included no mention of negative repercussions, which is both morally suspect and a slap in the face to those affected.
(17)Participation in the study left a large number of people (children!) dead, & an even larger number of people w/disabling ill health.
3. BCCDC appears more concerned about the *narrative* of how "relaxed measures in schools directly cause significant transmission in kids leading to significant harms" than they are about how relaxed measures in schools directly caused sig. transm'n in kids leading to sig. harms.
(10)As critics predicted, the manipulation was wildly effective in producing infection — which is to say, the negative outcome of ill health.
(11)Critics were correct and the experimenter was incorrect, but the experimenter suffered no punishment for errors.
1. Our criticism of the seroprevalence study was heard loud & clear by the BC Ministry of Education & Childcare, the BCCDC, & DBH.
"...tremendous discussion over Twitter among those who don't feel the province has done nearly enough..." -
@charliesmithvcr
(18)The manipulation resulted in disproportionate negative effects (in particular, isolation and/or death & disability) among already-suffering, already-marginalized people.
Fauci on herd immunity in The New York Times this week...
'The classical definition of herd immunity has been completely turned upside down by Covid. And let me go through the steps. Herd immunity is based on two premises: one, that the virus doesn’t change, and two, that when..
(13)The study probably actually miscalculated the "effectiveness" of the manipulation, given the study's questionable operationalization of the dependent variable (children have a relatively low seroconversion rate) and assumption of no reinfections.
(14)When study data determined that official case numbers were wildly incorrect, the PHO-experimenter made no effort to improve official case reporting.
(15)The researchers appeared to celebrate the effectiveness of the manipulation, even though this contradicts their no-effect hypothesis; this suggests that they knew the hypothesis was incorrect all along and/or that they had ulterior motives.
(21) While the experimenter apparently valued data, collecting more and more private data on which she could base her own decisions, she allowed fewer and fewer data to be collected for release to the public, for the public's benefit.
@kprather88
@WHO
Somewhat similar to the award-winning chief public health official of BC, who sells hand-washing books and has a stake in a tourism/hospitality business.
The award for the worst health official of the 2021 pandemic response goes to: the anti-mask & airborne-ignorant & kids-COVID-dismissing health chief of British Columbia 🇨🇦—Dr Bonnie Henry. There were many award finalists—but it’s hard to top her stone cold ignorance👇
#bcpoli
4. BCCDC expected the seroprevalance study it conducted with DBH to be met with enthusiasm ("good news"); it apparently believes that the benefits of mass transmission of a deadly pandemic pathogen ("community immunity") outweigh the harms.
@fitterhappierAJ
Old herd immunity: if enough people get vaccinated, Rt<1, so those who can't develop immunity are protected from infection
New herd immunity: if enough people get vaccinated, Rt>>1 still, so everyone (esp. the vulnerable) experiences endless waves of illness, disability, & death
So why does Dr. Prather
#MaskUp
, unlike the many smart, educated people who surround her at meetings? Probably because she, unlike them, understands this: 👇
12/
9. BCCDC claims there's a "lack of clear data" about Long Covid.
@LongCovidKids
has a long list of studies on pediatric LC, almost 200 of which were published before this BCCDC e-mail was sent. I guess
@CDCofBC
hasn't looked at the data.
So who in our society is still masking? People who know that they (and/or loved ones) are vulnerable. And who knows they're vulnerable, despite all the PH propaganda to the contrary? Predominantly, people who have had first-hand experience with Long Covid.
7/
Since Omicron took hold, those harms include 10,570 estimated covid deaths and 306,000 estimated cases of Long Covid in BC, as well as all of the downstream harms associated with the death and/or devastating chronic illness of a loved one.
6. BCCDC apparently still doesn't believe
#LongCovid
or
#LongCovidKids
is a big deal. (LC is not included in "severe disease," is less important than "community immunity," etc.)
11. BCCDC doesn't believe in the precautionary principle. If it did, it would've enacted droplet AND airborne protections from the start & worked to control disease instead of encourage its spread. "Not having clear data" re: virus effects on kids should mean you *protect* kids.
In order to try a solution, people must first believe there's a problem. It's Marketing 101. But our pandemic marketers have chosen to inundate the public with misinfo like "covid is mild/over," "only old, frail, obese, or otherwise undesirable people get severe covid," etc.
2/
That the experimenter isn't lead author, and may have manipulated the protection variable even in the absence of a published study, doesn't negate the preceding criticisms.
Okay, what other problems have I missed?
So it should not be surprising that LC experts mask and clean the air. They've seen with their own eyes the depth and breadth of suffering that LC can cause. And they've tried in vain to help patients who, precovid, were just like them.
9/
A few days ago, a whole team of nurses in N95 Auras from my family doctor's practice organized an appointment *outside* the employee entrance so that my kids (one too young to mask) could get up to date on their childhood immunizations in a covid-safe environment.
"The comparison of flu vs covid among pediatrics" is apparently meant to demonstrate how flu has been more deadly than acute covid among BC kids, instead of how covid has damaged BC children's immune systems such that flu & many other illnesses are more deadly now than precovid.
Moral of the story:
You can no longer trust your government on matters of public health. Things are currently much worse than they're letting on.
#ShowYouCareByTheMaskYouWear
(h/t
@BarryHunt008
)
11/11
Something similar happens with HCW, who have had dangerous myths drilled into their heads, in addition to droplet dogma & herd-immunity theory: the acute-only myth (
#MedEd
generally doesn't acknowledge the existence of ME and other viral-onset chronic conditions)...
4/
(23) When this tally is regularly updated, deceptive math is used to understate the deaths, such that the sum of a year's weekly totals is less than stated yearly totals and much less than the year's total excess deaths.
@MeetJess
Classic eugenics thinking:
1. Having a chronic medical condition makes you an inferior human.
2. Infecting others isn't bad (it can actually be a public service to get rid of the inferiors).
3. I myself could never become one of the inferiors.
...and the privilege-prevents-sickness myth (many physicians grew up being told they're superior to their peers, which produces overconfidence, and the just-world fallacy & ableism lead the docs to believe they're invincible).
6/
I interviewed the head of a major Long Covid academic center when we were writing the Covid chapter for Chronic.
She said Long Covid was psychosomatic. I controlled my visceral reaction.
I said, "What if you're wrong?" She said, "I'm not."
The danger of deferring to experts.
7. BCCDC apparently still doesn't believe that covid harms the immune system (which can lead to increased susceptibility to other infections, such as strep, RSV, and flu).
IOW, we've been told over & over again that covid isn't a problem. So subject experts may understand very well that covid is airborne & that N95s, HEPAs, & ventilation prevent transmission, but if they don't feel vulnerable, they're unlikely to implement airborne protections.
3/
8. BCCDC believes that pediatric hospitalizations for acute covid are what count, and not long-term covid damage leading to hospitalization (or other suffering) from other causes.
@1goodtern
The irony of attempting to portray LC as psychosomatic (to deny disability payments, research funding, etc.) while disallowing LC blood donations. If it's all in our heads, then why are you refusing our blood?
Six BC children died of flu last year, many more than the precovid average. In the two years some airborne protections were in effect (2020 & 2021), only one BC child died of flu (which is still one too many!).
@JaimieTomas
@keetmuise
We had to wait a few months (steadfastly refusing to get immunizations in an unsafe indoor environment), and we have a kind family doc, but our family got it done eventually. Maybe you can work things out too.
A few days ago, a whole team of nurses in N95 Auras from my family doctor's practice organized an appointment *outside* the employee entrance so that my kids (one too young to mask) could get up to date on their childhood immunizations in a covid-safe environment.
@maosbot
Decisions were clarified when I realized covid has thrust us from Plan A/"ideal mode" into survival mode. The goal is no longer to give my kids all the happy childhood experiences I think they should have but rather to get them to adulthood still healthy (& so able to be happy).
10. BCCDC claims it is "not aware of significant concerns raised by pediatricians."
Did it even ask pediatricians about their concerns, or did it just deem any concerns insignificant?
@CDCgov
So covering your coughs & sneezes prevents airborne virus from emanating from your respiratory system the rest of the time, e.g. as you breathe or talk? And as long as coughs & sneezes are covered, airborne virus doesn't build up like smoke in unventilated & unfiltered air? 🙃
@Abn_RN
If you want to convince people to get vaccinated tell them about
#LongCovid
“39% of unvaccinated participants in the study said they are more likely to consider getting vaccinated after coming to better understand the lingering impact of
#LongCovid
”
To end this pandemic, and to build enough political will to properly study and treat LC (& other immune-stressor-onset chronic illness like ME), these are the types of messages people need to hear. 👇
13/
@1goodtern
1. Every covid infection damages your body, whether you notice the damage or not.
2. Covid can produce profound long-term suffering.
3. LC affects people just like you.
4. LC has no cure.
5. LC can be prevented by N95s & air cleaning but not by diet & exercise & moral virtue.
I’m not sure if it’s the latest strain that is circulating or the lack of uptake on recent boosters/vaccinations but our COVID patients currently are presenting & deteriorating like in 2020-2022.
Very critically ill & unstable, coding, very high oxygen needs…it’s scary.
@TheChefsGardens
It’s because our hospital systems are moving into surge planning, they have no choice.
In my county (two refrigerated morgue trucks - one has been here since beginning of COVID, the second arrived last summer; and the parking lot surge tent just went up as well) 👇🏻
@KunstJonas
People choosing not to wear masks in indoor settings are like cigarette smokers' blowing around incredibly noxious toxic smoke, where even a single exposure to the smoker can result in death or a lifetime of disabling ill health. Time to ban all toxic air in public indoor spaces.
Some hotels have Infinity pools, we have an Infinity Hallway in our hospital.
10-15 EMS crews at any time, trying to offload patients to an emergency room with no beds.
Stay safe out there folks.
This 👇 is how DBH responded to this BCCDC e-mail. "Lack of clear data" about Long Covid and being "not aware" of concerns got translated to the public as "There has been no LC and there are no concerns."
@Notatmypicnic
@RachnaSinghNDP
@CDCofBC
@BCNDPCaucus
@bcndp
8 days later, Henry w/a good news story spin (23m mark):
“It shows us that children, they have not had much access to vax…&…since Omicron…have very high rate of infection, but what that has not translated to is hosp, severe illness or LT consequences”
@loscharlos
"Hader wears an N95 mask to work on the Sony lot, where masking is optional, and toggles between worrying about getting COVID-19 and worrying about whether the stress from worrying is triggering his autoimmune condition."
@AltenbergLee
Great prediction, but I wish Dr. Pearl would've offered up the basis for his prediction. The thesis of the piece is that culture + virus will make people stop caring about covid, but *how*? What's described 👇 is survivorship bias & defeatism -- which are psychology, not culture.
@MichaelPelusoMD
@ahandvanish
Thanks for this excellent research!
Am I correct that only 1 LC patient (
#23
) was tested more than 2 years after infection? If you didn't really look for activation & persistence after 2 years, then it's extremely important to change "up to 2 years" to "at least 2 years."
Extra points suggested by
@SafetyinNumbrz
():
(24) It was based on institutional power that the experimenter was able to self-declare her research as ethical & release data of her unwitting, nonconsenting lab-rat constituents to external researchers.
@dreamy_run
More problems:
* study author(s) also controlled own "ethics" review, bypassing normal external controls
* study excluded age-stratified control group (in this case, one which kept protections)
* results misinterpreted by authors, who claim it doesn't show schools drive cases
There were 10,435 patients in B.C. hospitals as of Tuesday. The previous peak was 10,280, same week last year.
Does this seem like public health measures are no longer needed? Testing, masking, ignoring airborne spread, cohorting c19 pts w/ non c19 pts?
(26) The data showed that school-aged children were more infected than older age groups. The obvious interpretations are that (a) places that children congregate (especially schools) are more infectious than other places and/or
What do you call it when you know your body might be full of deadly poison, but instead of blocking the poison, you breathe it out at people, and someone else breathes it in and dies?
(26 cont'd) (b) children are more susceptible to Omicron infection than other age groups. The interpretation section of the paper makes no mention of those possibilities. Moreover, in various speeches, the experimenter has repeatedly and doggedly declared the exact opposite.