@skinnylatte first off this thread is a gold mine of people worth following - informed and unwilling to deny overwhelming evidence :mastothumbsup: :mastorespirator:

my answer varies by who's asking

as @foolishowl said kids are maybe the hardest. I'm mostly at "this stops me from getting sick" for kids.

friends and friendlies, I use the question as an excuse to info dump, which I follow up with an email with pull quotes and citations from reputable sources, so they know it's not BS

unknowns and hostiles get some variation of "I can't afford to get sick", "are you going to pay my bills if I get sick", and then info dump what I can

#CovidIsNotOver #COVIDIsAirborne #MaskUp #AirborneAware #CovidCompetent

Already a measles outbreak in the Toronto Area, 2 days after kids went back to school Pls get the MMR vaxx & wear a mask for the best protection Respirator masks (especially N95s) protect against any airborne virus, including measles & COVID COVID cases are also ⬆️ #COVIDinformed #AirborneAware

Protected from airborne viruses while going for a walk & repping some of my faves 🤩 Outdoors is lower risk but not zero risk COVID 🦠 moves like smoke 💨 Protect yourself outside especially in crowded areas 😷 Surge will ⬆️ as kids are back at school #COVIDinformed #AirborneAware #KN95sSaveLives

A recent common cold may nearly halve risk of COVID-19, study suggests

So Covid-Competent folks - this is going to land different in different quarters.

• The previously evidence-supported paradigm/metaphor "the immune system is a candle not a muscle" might need to be abandoned for a third, more nuanced position[+]
• Of course there's the need to check the paper itself, and if it's solid, to replicate / validate, but beyond that.
• Folks with immune dysregulation can't all just catch rhinoviruses all the time to keep the system active.

[+] probably approximately: "microbes vary:

• some are overwhelmingly beneficial, eg. in our gut;
• some have mixed costs and benefits like rhinovirus or conditions when they become pathological like candida, and
• some basically only have costs like influenza(?), SARS1 and SARS2, measles"

re: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/recent-common-cold-may-nearly-halve-risk-covid-19-study-suggests

#COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #CovidCompetent #AirborneAware #rhinovirus #paradigmshift

in this week's COVID-19 roundup from @ducky includes highlights like:

paper from Germany found that 21% of masters’ athletes (median age in the high 50s) had Long COVID. The prevalence did not differ by sex, athletic specialties, training load, or prior competition level. Long COVID can happen to healthy, fit people!

(emphasis hers)

from market vendors who self medicated:
taking aspirin increased the risk of COVID-19 infection by 134%;
taking vitamin C decreased the risk of COVID-19 infection by 56%.
Meanwhile, not getting a 💉 COVID-19 booster increased their risk by 238%.

and

for immunocompromised people, taking Paxlovid for 10 or 15 days instead of five days didn’t make a whit of difference.

summaries of more papers, and citations for it all, at https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2025/07/19/2025-07-19-general/

#COVID19 #COVID #SARSCoV2 #Pandemic #CovidIsNotOver #AirborneAware #CovidCompetent

Edit: @ABScientist shared https://ccnse.ca/sites/default/files/Fomites%20and%20COVID-19%20March%2022%20final%20in%20template-revised.pdf !

hey Covid-Competent, well-informed folks! I have a favour to ask!

has anyone bookmarked a good reference for what % of SARS-CoV-2 cases are due to fomite transmission?

the US CDC was at one point saying:

each contact with a contaminated surface has less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of causing an infection [1]

but that's not a % of infections, it's per contact with contaminated surface. That's supported a few ways, eg. by a sampling that included counting touchpoints:

The estimated risk of infection from touching a contaminated surface was low (less than 5 in 10,000) by quantitative microbial risk assessment [2]

but that study didn't actually culture virus, they checked RNA levels and counted touches (and again, is per contaminated touch, not per case)

Try as I might, I can't actually find a grounded estimate of how many actual infections have been fomite-driven at any point in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

[1] https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7927285/

@askazero

#SARSCoV2 #COVID #COVID19 #COVIDIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCompetent #AirborneAware

In 1987 volunteers were exposed to rhinovirus ("common cold") either by sharing air, or by sharing heavily contaminated objects.[2]

Most of the people who shared air with an infected person got sick.

None of the people who handled the heavily contaminated objects (and touched their faces!) got sick. And:

5/8 donor hands yielded culturable RV-A16 virus, while none of the recipient’s hands did [1]

[1] https://virologydownunder.com/rhinovirus-rv-transmission-by-aerosol-does-it-happen-or-is-transmission-solely-by-hand-contact-and-self-inoculation/
[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=J+Infect+Dis+156(3)%3A442-448

h/t @mackayim2022 via https://mastodon.social/@mackayim2022/114775415171464977

#CovidIsAirborne #AirborneAware #SARSCoV2 #rhinovirus

Toronto has the 2nd worst air quality in the 🌎 due to wildfire smoke If you live anywhere near Ontario or Toronto, plz wear an N95 mask if u need to go out If not, turn on your HEPA air purifier(s) indoors as wildfire smoke can seep thru cracks / gaps in windows & doors #AirborneAware #CleanAir

HEPA air purifiers help too Wildfire smoke can seep through cracks or gaps in your windows & doors #N95sSaveLives #AirborneAware #WildfireSmoke #N95sWork

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ne6c7wj3gsizqhwsr5iyuhid/post/3lqvdjjwyik2v

Ridiculous that when you’re pro-mask, some people are quick to say you’re anti-vaxx Most of us in the #COVIDinformed & #AirborneAware community have gotten multiple doses of the COVID vaccine (at least more than 3, but often more than that), the yearly flu shot + all the other recommended vaccines

Not going to reply to ridiculous posts anymore that waste my time Actual #COVIDinformed & #AirborneAware people wear a mask in public spaces because we know that a respirator mask (KN95 or better) is another layer that adds to protection from the most up to date vaccine (for ANY airborne virus)

COVID informed people ARE living our lives We’re just not behaving or making decisions like the government or the rest of society want us to They want us to 🙈🙉🙊 just like them #COVIDinformed #COVIDcompetent #AirborneAware

Imagine a faith that puts the well-being of people ahead of corporate interests in 2025.

https://www.stmargaretscedarcottage.ca/why-are-we-still-masking.html

THIS is what living a moral life can look like. Caring about others, refusing to perpetuate false narratives, protecting oneself, following evidence as it accumulates.

BONUS: THIS WEEK they're selling ultra-quiet air purifiers at a discount, to fundraise https://www.stmargaretscedarcottage.ca/order-your-air-cleaner.html

h/t a zero :mastomask: 👍

#BC #Vancouver #CovidIsNotOver #AirborneAware #CovidCompetent #COVID #COVID19 #SARS2 #religion #faith

Are you Covid-Competent and wishing for some emotional and rational support as much of the world cosplays 2019?

https://whn.global/stuck-in-the-middle-with-masking-playing-the-long-game-in-a-short-sighted-age/ is trending at https://zeroes.ca/explore/links for good reason. Short, accessible, a respected MD who is living according to clear evidence.

#COVIDIsNotOver #COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #CovidIsAirborne #Pandemic #CovidCompetent #AirborneAware

Layered protection works best Layered = 2 doses of the MMR vaccine + mask (KN95 or better) + HEPA filtration (air purifiers) #MeaslesIsAirborne #AirborneAware Link: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

So. How about this careful result demonstrating viral replication inside megakaryocyte immune cells?

transmission electron microscopy pointed to the presence of viral particles inside bone marrow MK. Immunolabeling confirmed the presence of two SARS-CoV-2 proteins, spike and Orf3a, as well as double-stranded RNA suggesting a potential viral replication cycle.

Note this study is from last month, but it's from hospitalized 2020-2021 patient data. It's existence proof, not population statistics.

That said:

bone marrow MK infection is not a strict determinant of mortality. However, all survivors experienced post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 condition (PASC) diagnosed during post-intensive care follow-up

short 🧵

#CovidIsAirborne #SARSCoV2 #COVID #COVID19 #CovidCompetent #AirborneAware #immunology

@themaskerscomic this is really remarkably solid data

The cohort included 297,920 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals and 915,402 SARS-CoV-2-negative controls. Every individual had at least a six-month follow-up after cohort entry

With a range of risk ratios from roughly +25% to +200%! That's up to triple the risk!

children and adolescents [...] infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited increased risks for a range of post-acute cardiovascular outcomes, with RR [risk ratio] between 1.26 and 2.92

and things have not gotten better with newer variants:

similar cardiovascular outcomes in children infected with the Delta and Omicron variants

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56284-0 also via @TRyanGregory

#COVIDIsNotOver #COVID #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #CovidCompetent #AirborneAware #pediatrics #cardiology #PASC #LC #LongCOVID

This preprint seems so good! [edit: pre-proof not pre-print, it has been peer reviewed and the data passed muster, but might have formatting, grammar, and spelling tweaks]

goals were: a) to detect viral load in indoor air in different areas and floors of a separate COVID building in a hospital [...], b) to evaluate the effect of an air-cleaner in the reduction of viral load in the presence of patients, and c) to examine the correlation between viral presence in the air and particle matter burden.

their methodology is making me happy!

Their system separated aerosols into > 2.5 μm, 1.0 to 2.5 μm, 0.5 to 1.0 μm, 0.25 to 0.50 μm, and < 0.25 μm, and found

SARS-CoV-2 was detected in all different fractions and the highest viral loads were detected at stages A (> 2.5 μm) and B (1 - 2.5 μm).

however this was in open-window conditions, ie. low CO2 and higher airflow; sampling with the same equipment in households, they found

the highest amount was detected in Stage 4 (0.25 - 0.5 μm)

The data is mostly PCR but they did do some sequencing, and positively confirmed the dominant variants were stable through the study, and not confounding.

Note the air cleaner was a "Airocide (APS GCS-25 model) air purifier" which uses "photocatalytic oxidation technology" as well as 254nm UV, with no HEPA or other mechanical filter.

Also, this is vindicating for those of us pleading with folks to not immediately de-mask in the hallway:

the highest concentration was detected in COVID clinic rooms displaying a high peak of 1123 copies/m3, whereas at the corridor area showed 481 copies/m3

Also highly of note, they could not detect any virus in the areas that were upstream of negative-pressure COVID-19 care. So yes, home isolation protocols that emphasize negative pressure zones absolutely are well founded!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021850225000643 via https://aus.social/@Sidherian

#SARSCoV2 #COVID #COVID19 #COVIDIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne #AirborneAware #CovidCompetent #PublicHealth #CleanAir

Layered protection is most effective: 2 doses of the MMR vaccine, a mask, and HEPA filtration (air purifier) #MeaslesIsAirborne #COVIDisAirborne #AirborneAware #COVIDinformed Link: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

What #COVIDinformed and #AirborneAware mean to me (they are NOT interchangeable): “COVID informed” is a reminder that the pandemic is *ongoing” It’s also a reminder that COVID has disproportionately affected marginalized groups BIPOC people, people of low or no income, immunocompromised ppl 🧵1/2