i'm always extra-incensed by the extreme disconnect my entire queer theories or sexuality studies classes operate from around covid! we can talk about hiv/aids, informed consent, eugenics, etc all the while everyone in the room is maskless & there is always at least one coughing someone was talking about feeling safe in queer spaces w/their multiple marginalized identities, which is very real! but even still it's ironically not inclusive to further marginalized folks. so vexed by the incessant disconnect so i had to share this:

folks really gotta start questioning how radical they really are because not being covid cautious during this mass disabling event is at odds with being inclusive, accessible, intentional, community oriented, creating safe space, practicing consent, siding with the marginalized.

Figuring out why nearly all organ systems are f*ing up the insurance industry's bottom line is more difficult than #MaskUp. #Mystery!

https://insurancenewsnet.com/innarticle/while-u-s-mortality-spike-normalizing-5-troubling-trends-continue

Mask bans already exist in certain States and counties.

Vance spearheaded a federal ban on mask mandates.

Organizing to codify the right to wear medical masks and respirators is (sadly) needed.

Masking is community care and resistance.

Illinois attempting to codify right to mask into law:

https://pmefa.org/

This is why respirators need to be mandatory in hospitals.

Babies, people with certain disabilities & some health conditions need others to mask to protect them.

This hospital shouldn’t be “scrambling”. Make masks mandatory & protect patients and staff.

Clean & ventilate the air too!

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/texas-measles-outbreak-hospital-newborn-babies-exposed-rcna196519

This #LongCovidAwarenessDay I’m reflecting on how many people have been let down by governments, public health & medical establishments

How Covid has been downplayed, airborne spread ignored & vaxx and relax strategies pushed for the sake of capitalism

How many have Long Covid because of this?

Those of us who were disabled before the pandemic could see this wave of chronic illness coming - and many of us have been screaming from the top of our lungs the last 5 years.

Begging people not to take their health for granted & to wear a mask and protect themselves.

Warning them that there are no do-overs once you become chronically ill. Unfortunately very few people are listening - and many won’t understand the true devastation of #LongCovid until it directly impacts them. At which point it’ll be too late.

Despite seeing these waves of disability as an inevitable consequence of “let er rip” Covid strategy - one thing I did not see coming was how many people would willingly embrace not only ableism - but full on eugenics.

People in my own life who were previously kind & supportive have become cruel and angry. The masks have been ripped off. They don’t hesitate to tell me that they blame me for the restrictions placed on them in the early days of Covid.

That they will never again allow their freedoms to be infringed on in the name of protecting the vulnerable. One even went as far as to say “you’ve been sick for years - just die already.”

People who say these things don’t understand what disabled ppl understand all too well - your health is not a permanent state.

Everyone will become disabled eventually - some earlier than others. Many who think they’re invulnerable are already vulnerable and don’t even know it

Yet rather than adapting behaviour and pushing for a new normal that makes the world safe for everyone - most temporarily abled people have instead doubled down on hateful eugenics talking points and want us to stay home forever (or worse - die). It needs to stop.

Covid is airborne and we all share the air. “You do you” individualism is quite literally killing people. We need to start caring about the air we share as this will lead to a healthier society for everyone.

Until then we need to mask up. It’s easy, incredibly effective & it might save someone’s life. At the very least you will know you didn’t contribute to another person’s suffering - and you will be drastically reducing your own odds of getting Long Covid. It’s worth it.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

Today is international #LongCovid Awareness Day

Check this canadian interview with a Mount Sinai (NY) chronic disease specialist. Up to one in five people with COVID-19 develop LONG COVID, meaning three months after having the disease they still do not recover their full abilities.

The specialist affirms that each reinfection, even moderate, of COVID-19 subtracts between 2-6% of IQ.

LONG COVID is a disease that causes systemic damage, especially to the immune system, causing T-cell exhaustion and triggering latent diseases or exposing the body to new pathogens from which it would have been able to defend itself before. Worth a listen:

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6685208

#CovidLong #COVID19 #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne
#CovidIsntOver
#ImmuneSystem #ImmuneDysfunction
#autoimmune #TCell
#chronicillness
#ChronicIllnesses

It’s International Long Covid Awareness Day, and my latest article looks at the reasons why people believe they don’t know anyone with Long Covid.

We desperately need increased visibility into this debilitating chronic illness so that we can raise awareness and fund treatments, mitigations and cures.

Anyone can get Long Covid. It’s not limited to ‘only the vulnerable’ or those who had a severe initial infection.

This disease does not discriminate. Even people with asymptomatic initial infections have found themselves disabled by Long Covid.

It’s time we start processing the trauma of the pandemic and stop living in denial.

We are in the middle of a mass disabling event, and the longer it takes us to admit that, the more people will be harmed.

Let’s spread the word that the only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid getting Covid in the first place.

Wear a mask. Stay home when sick. Clean and ventilate the air.

When we all agree to care about the air we share, we can begin to bring about real change.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I don't want Long Covid
Do you?

#iamhere #StillCoviding
#MaskUp #LongCovidAwarenessDay
#CureLongCovidNow
#UnitedForLongCovid
#ILCAD2025 #CovidPoetry
#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver
#RosesAreRedPoems #Poetry

AUSTRALIA weekly COVID update: 14 March 2025

This week is Long COVID awareness week. My career has been on hold (and may be over) since I became disabled by COVID. We need to learn from the mistakes of the ongoing pandemic to prevent more people being disabled and killed now AND in the next pandemic. #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #LongCovid #CleanAir

https://www.surreynowleader.com/opinion/analysis-we-need-to-learn-from-covid-19-before-its-too-late-7875726

I wrote a guest article for Healthy Debate that looks at why we need mandatory masks in healthcare, why surgical masks aren’t enough, and how the mounting threats to public health are putting lives at risk.

If you’re a healthcare worker, mask up.

Show us you take your oath to “do no harm” seriously

https://healthydebate.ca/2025/03/topic/wear-mask-plea-health-care-workers/

Today marks the five year anniversary of Covid being declared a pandemic. Some things I want people to remember:

The threat is not gone. People are still dying and becoming disabled every single day

COVID is airborne. It’s always been airborne. Droplet transmission was pushed incorrectly & then doubled down on for economic reasons. If governments admit it’s airborne, they have to spend money upgrading air quality and providing respirators etc.

The only way to avoid Long Covid is to not get Covid.

A well fitted respirator like an N95 offers excellent personal protection

Mask mandates belong in healthcare

If you’re not masking for your patient, you’re abdicating your responsibility to do no harm

It costs nothing to open a window and it will improve ventilation and reduce odds of viral spread. Air purifiers work well too

COVID is a social justice issue. Masks, tests, air filters, paid time off… these things all cost money. The disease disproportionately impacts those who are most vulnerable and multiple marginalized

Repeat infections don’t make you stronger. They don’t give you immunity. They actually harm your brain, heart and immune system. They’re also NOT inevitable

Kids are harmed by COVID too. They need the adults to protect them. We need clean in schools and on school buses

We went “back to normal” for capitalism. It wasn’t because it was safe. It wasn’t because there was a cure. Governments and those in power Are willing to sacrifice us to keep end stage capitalism afloat a little longer

Repeat infections are NOT inevitable. We can still curb the spread. We don’t have to accept constant sickness and disability as our new normal.

May we be in a much better place five years from now than we are today.

If you know someone suffering from Long Covid, reach out to them. Ask them how you can support them. Remind them they’ve not been forgotten. Wear a mask for them. They are counting on you.

"Demanding clean air just as we demand clean water is the solution." #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #LongCovid
https://healthydebate.ca/2025/03/topic/denial-airborne-covid-transmission/

How denial of airborne COVID transmission broke the world.

'The failure to initially recognize and later acknowledge the airborne spread of COVID-19, was the root cause of major shortcomings in the pandemic response.'

"Airborne mitigations would have greatly reduced viral transmission and therefore reduced evolution, that is to say the production of new variants."

#COVIDisAIRBORNE #COVIDisNotOVER @auscovid19

https://archive.md/ehzgB