This is a really great time to start masking if you haven't been already.
Yesterday's post led me to writing this, with the part about learning sign language, so thinking about inclusion and accessibility.
We have been failing people with compromised immune systems and the elderly by so completely rejecting COVID prevention.
Making it all more timely, I post this on the day that RFK Jr. is confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary.
If only it were all a sick joke.
In truth, masking is not sufficient, because we are not just talking about COVID anymore.
We have flu spreading, with flu deaths rising over various age groups, including children.
We have Avian flu spreading, which is getting more attention for its effect on egg prices, but does not only matter for that.
We have Norovirus outbreaks. Measles cases are rising in the US and Canada. Polio is showing up here and there, with cases in Pakistan, Singapore, and Europe, but air travel can get things anywhere.
We have tuberculosis in Kansas City.
In addition, different diseases spread in different ways.
You may have heard references to aerosols, droplets, and fomites. There is some explanation here:
You may notice that they don't sound that different. It essentially comes down to whether you are more likely to breathe it in or pick it up from a surface and how long it will be a threat that way (will it linger in the air or do you have to have heard and felt the sneeze?).
While all of this is happening, this administration is actively fighting-- in multiple ways -- against a healthy and informed public.
Resist that.
That does not only mean masking, but also vaccines, washing hands, cleaning surfaces, social distancing and isolation, especially in case of illness.
Masking is the most visible, and the most unpopular, but what does it say?
It says that you accept science.
It says that you reject Trump.
It says that you care about allowing cancer patients and people with immune-system problems and many other health conditions to participate in the world.
It says you care about Black and brown people.
It says you will not spread disease. You have made a choice to care about others.
We need you now. Right away.
My travel blog updates have been including COVID and accessibility information for a while. I think they show that there are a lot of things that you can do pretty safely.
It does take that extra step.
At work. In the store. On public transportation. In museums. In lines that are outdoors but where people are close together.
Potential action item: Obtain and wear KN95 masks.
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