Ah Dr Ruth Ann’s Covid Newsletter is here!
Time to trade deep psychic damage for the cause 😫✊🏻
#wearARespirator
@Soniop happy coronaversary to this post: https://eldritch.cafe/@Soniop/113252843701653204
If you care for each other, protect each other. Wear a well-fitting respirator every time you are in a public place/outside your home. KN95s, N95s, and other NIOSH-approved masks filter at least 95% of particles in the air when you have a proper fit. Wearing a mask helps prevent transmission of airborne viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, RSV, influenza, and more.
Despite profit-based claims otherwise, we are still in a global COVID pandemic. Covid vaccinations may help prevent some severe outcomes and death, but they do not prevent illness, transmission, or Long Covid. Mask up to protect yourself and others from illness, disability (Long Covid), and death.
The following groups are disproportionately affected by Long COVID and/or at greater risk of COVID infection, largely due to existing structures of oppression: disabled people, women, bisexual and trans people, Black people, Indigenous people, children, incarcerated people, people who are unhoused or living in poverty, elderly people, working class people, and immunocompromised people, including people undergoing cancer treatments and people who are HIV-positive.
If you claim to be an ally or accomplice to any marginalized community, you will put the mask back on. We must also demand access to clean, filtered air in schools, public transportation, hospitals, prisons. We must demand free pandemic resources from the government (respirators, rapid & PCR tests, treatments like Paxlovid and other antivirals).
For increased personal protection against COVID, take a layered approach: be diligent about wearing a respirator in all public places; avoid crowded places like restaurants, bars, and concerts; purchase or build a DIY air purifier for your home and advocate for clean air measures in shared spaces like offices or schools; take rapid antigen or PCR tests before gathering with friends or family.
For more information about (Long) COVID, masks/respirators, clean air, disability justice, and more, visit resistcovideugenics.carrd.co, linktr.ee/act_up_mask_up, covidtoolbox.com, covid.tips, and/or find a local mask bloc near you (maskbloc.org). #CovidIs Airborne #WearARespirator
Masks are community care❤️🔥😷 free masks: maskbloc.org
• Remember: covid is not over, 50% of infections are asymptomatic, minimum 10% of infections end up in long COVID, re-infections wreck us, COVID spreads and moves like cigarette smoke, think of the people around you and you as people who are all day smoking, it becomes more visual to understand how COVID moves.
• There is no way to “train” the immune system because it is not a muscle. there is a common misconception that exposure to harmful germs strengthens the immune system. viral diseases like COVID, flu, measles weaken the immune system, leaving the possibility of lasting damage. The reality is that you don't build your immunity with repeated infections, vaccines strengthen the immune system by teaching it to recognize pathogens without all the risks. Focusing on infection prevention is key.
• Rapid antigen tests give many false negatives.
• Solving the pandemic was never in the cards for the capitalist world.
• Instead, the explicit goal of the ruling class has been to make the pandemic simply disappear from public perception. Any reminder of the existence of a highly-transmissible, highly-dangerous, mass-disabling disease could trigger panic, or worse: organized, militant labor action. Averting this crisis required a careful campaign of culture-crafting; the people themselves needed to become convinced that there was no reason to fight. Consent for protracted mass infection needed to be manufactured.
“The cold truth of the matter is that the motive behind COVID minimization is greed and social control. (…) Solving the pandemic was never in the cards for the capitalist world. Instead, the explicit goal of the ruling class has been to make the pandemic simply disappear from public perception.” Let Them Eat Plague! http://clarion.unity-struggle-unity.org/
#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice
.
Today is #MaskedMondays! Show that you are still #masking by posting your weekly #maskedselfie or other photo as a reply. #masked #mask #maskup #maskup #BringBackMasks #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #n95 #p100 #weareyeprotection #WearARespirator #wearamaskoutside #MaskMonday @covid@a.gup.pe19@a.gup.pe @covid @covid@a.gup.peisairborne @auscovid19 @longcovid
2025_8_19 The symptoms are coming from inside the house.
We are in a severe Covid surge right now thanks to Late Summer/Back To School, and it will also probably worsen significantly again for the winter holidays. Because your risk for Long Covid increases with each infection, here are some steps you can take during the acute infection to lower your risk of Long Covid, or lower the severity of how a reinfection will worsen your existing Long Covid.
This is not medical advice, this is a summary of things I have read from various studies, journalists, and newsletters, and what I try to prioritize for myself. I send this to loved ones who accept my offer for it when they or someone they know gets infected, and I figured I should make it more broadly accessible.
Ways to Lower Your Risk of Long Covid &
Lower The Severity of A Reinfection’s Worsening Your Long Covid
Medicines, Vitamins, and Supplements
- Increase Vitamin D ASAP and sustain it for at least a month. It’s a reserve vitamin so you can’t cram it all in 2 days, and should not. It is possible to have too much Vitamins A & D, so please be mindful of dosing.
- Increase Iron ASAP and sustain it, similarly to above.
- Zinc, like Vitamin D, is key to our immune system’s functioning & signaling. Zinc can help boost underactive immune features, calm overactive immune features, and reduce inflammation. Additionally, studies have found Zinc levels are significantly reduced during Covid infection, and reduced in relationship to severity of infection, so it makes sense to combat this.
- Metformin has LOTS of evidence of decreasing Long Covid risk with typically few side effects, but it does require a prescription.
If you’re asking your doctor, I recommend supplying a trusted source: This 2023 Quadruple Blind RCT Study is a Gold Standard for clinical trials. If relevant, additionally add 2025 Study found added efficacy in Fat Folks, 2023 BMJ Blog, 2025 RECOVER Blog. - H1 Antihistamines have preliminary research to support them decreasing LC risk and SIGNIFICANT research supporting them as treatments in Covid-19 infections, plus ways to lower your Covid infection risk overall. All H1 antihistamines have shown in vitro benefits, however the ones I’ve seen most studied in humans are cetirizine/zyrtec, ebastine, azelastine, and loratadine. Most trials in humans used modern antihistamines, which I agree with. I do not generally suggest any first generation antihistamines including Dramamine, Benadryl, NyQuil, or their generic versions unless you have a medical reason for choosing them & their adverse anticholinergic effects. H1 antihistamines are typically available without a prescription in the US.
- A recent study from Germany found a Nasal H1 Antihistamine, Azelastine Nasal Spray reduced covid infections by 69% (nice). More research is needed, but a 2x a day dose of Azelastine, or 3x a day dose of German Azelastine is extrapolated to be beneficial from a long covid precaution perspective, similarly to other H1 medications above. This is typically available without a prescription, and is inexpensive in the US.
- H2 Antihistamines, especially Famotidine/Pepcid, reduce both symptom severity and viral load, leading to an earlier resolution of infection. These are available without a prescription in the US, and typically inexpensive.
- Paxlovid is less effective at decreasing Long Covid risk in the acute phase, but does have other benefits, even if started late. It is additionally showing progress as part of a combination therapy. Stock up on mints and cough drops though.
- Magnesium, Vitamin C and other immune-boosters can be very beneficial IF you are not autoimmune/don’t have other relevant considerations.
- If you are on trans masculine HRT or similar medications please continue. Men & NB people with similar levels of hormones have lower risk and sometimes lower symptom burden than women & NB folks with similar hormone levels. We aren’t sure why yet.
Other OTC items which might help lower the viral load or otherwise make the acute infection less impactful:
- A mouth wash containing PVP-I [povidone-iodine] or CPC [cetylpyridinium chloride]. This can be used multiple times a day.
- Green tea (ECGC)
- Hibiscus tea (ACE2)
- Antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids (including flaxseed oil, fish oil) help remove oxidative stress, which is helpful in both acute Covid (infection and replication causes OS) and in multiple forms of Long Covid. I’ve read . Antioxidants are vitamins A, C, E, Selenium (Se), and Zinc (Zn). Vitamin A is possible to overdo, so please be mindful of dosing.
- Nicotine, surprisingly to some, though Indigenous People of Turtle Island know Traditional Tobacco as Medicine. If you are already using nicotine (including patches), you can keep it up during the acute phase to hopefully lower some risk. It is also being investigated as a Long Covid treatment, I had a positive experience with my experiment.
Transmission Precautions (how to protect people you live with, etc):
COVID is most often transmitted via the air, not droplets like we thought early in the pandemic. As such:
- Fresh air will be your easiest and most effective option, assuming climate safety. Even a slightly open window will be MUCH better than closed windows.
- Masks are extremely effective, especially when both parties wear them. Respirators (aka a mask with a safety rating such as N95, KN95, KF94, P2, FFP2, DS) are best, but anything is better than none. Try to get as good of a seal as you can/minimize air leaks.
- Air filtering with HEPA filters is great if you have access and funds. Try to make sure the filter(s) you use are sufficient for the square footage of the space. Earlier variants had a filter goal of 6 air changes per hour (ACH), but anything is better than nothing, especially when combined with opened windows, etc. If the filters are insufficient for the square footage/meterage or ACH, place them for largest impact: for example close to the sick person, in areas with poor ventilation, or areas of high social contact.
- If HEPA filters are too expensive or unavailable, try to make a Corsi-Rosenthal Box (a DIY air filter alternative using MERV13+ filters and a box fan, free directions abound online). Same strategies as above.
- Last home air filter precaution: most climate control systems have a filter, and if that filter is already or can easily be changed to a MERV13+ filter, that will be an additional help.
- If you must run errands/go to work/etc, please prioritize one of the rated respirators above. Try to do curbside or other distanced, outdoor pickup options where available.
- There are nasal precaution options including the aforementioned OTC H1 Antihistamine Azelastine and Profi Spray (which is highly effective, but their science was measured with nasal swab application, not spray).
- It doesn’t take a lot: We have stopped the acute spread of Covid in our home two times (that we know of!–the real number is probably much higher) by using only a couple strategically placed HEPAs and window cracking.
- When in doubt, think Swiss Cheese:
Please Take Care:
- If you feel any sustained exhaustion or fatigue, please rest and do not push yourself for at least two-three months after infection, including physical and mental exertion. A lot of us long haulers had an inkling early on that something was off but we pushed ourselves to be “back to normal” and that caused immense lasting harm. It might sound like a long time now, but a few months is a short time in comparison to the rest of your life. Trust me.
I wish I had read this earlier: Indefinitely Ill – Post-Covid Fatigue - Pacing is the most helpful tool I have found for my health, and has been practiced by people with post-viral illness for a long time.
Intro to pacing: ME Action’s Stop Rest Pace - Scheduling breaks with reminder alerts is how I do it, and by having specific things I look forward to about downtime (slowed audiobooks, a nature soundscape, etc). Some people are better at remembering on their own.
- Lastly, I recommend using a symptom tracker even for initial infection (and that couple month period after). Hopefully before too long there won’t be many symptoms to track and things’ll be mostly a-ok, and it won’t be needed, but the way covid makes the brain all squiggly, IMO tracking symptoms is super important for understanding what your body needs to have your best chance at maintaining your current health!
- The app Visible is popular in some LC communities, but a journal or calendar is a-ok too. It helps to check in with your body and see how much feels safe to do and what to prioritize. (Visible is free for symptom tracking and I recommend the free version short-term. If you end up needing long term pacing help and want to include the paid wearable, though here’s my coupon code: https://join.makevisible.com/68284299c4dc3e )
Thank you for taking care of yourself and your communities. We need all the precautions, kindness, and care we can get right now.Additional Covid Safety info from someone else’s patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/huge-free-covid-86871700
My other Long Covid & related topics info:
Illmarks Resources Page
https://www.illmarks.com/symptoms-are-coming-long-covid-prevention-tips/
#allergy #art #backToSchool #backtoschool #besafe #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #cdc #chronicIllness #covid #covidIsAirborne #covidIsNotOver #covid19 #covid19 #covidcompetent #CovidIsntOver #environmental #health #healthcare #longCovid #longcovid #maskUp #maskup #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mcas #medArt #medart #medblog #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwme #SaltingTheVibes #SaltingTheVibes #sarsCov2 #sars2 #sciArt #SciArt #WearAMask #WearARespirator
All the people who were at Dragon Con or Burning Man or whatever the fuck and willing to wear all sorts of masks, but no one was willing to #WearARespirator. Now they come home with #Covid and infect unknown number of people around them, still not masking, not willing to protect their friends and family after being in a giant petri dish. Totally fine with spreading a disabling virus that gives people #LongCovid, heart attacks and whole lot of other shit.
What selfish fucks
It’s my birthday, but I now view time by different measures
I crashed so this is belated, but for my birthday/Stonewall anniversary ask, I received over 40 pro-mask messages of people wearing N95 or similar respirators! I think there are even more, I lost count a few times. Thank you SO much to everyone who participated and helped take care of themselves and their communities.
https://www.illmarks.com/2025-6-28-its-my-birthday-but-i-now-view-time-by-different-measures/
#art #chronicIllness #CleanAir #CleanIndoorAir #covid #covidIsNotOver #fibro #longCovid #mcas #mecfs #MillionsMissing #POTS #pwLC #pwme #WearAMask #WearARespirator
Despite profit-based claims otherwise, we are still in a global COVID pandemic. Covid vaccinations may help prevent some severe outcomes and death, but they do not prevent illness, transmission, or Long Covid. Mask up to protect yourself and others from illness, disability (Long Covid), and death.
The following groups are disproportionately affected by Long COVID and/or at greater risk of COVID infection, largely due to existing structures of oppression: disabled people, women, bisexual and trans people, Black people, Indigenous people, children, incarcerated people, people who are unhoused or living in poverty, elderly people, working class people, and immunocompromised people, including people undergoing cancer treatments and people who are HIV-positive.
If you claim to be an ally or accomplice to any marginalized community, you will put the mask back on. We must also demand access to clean, filtered air in schools, public transportation, hospitals, prisons. We must demand free pandemic resources from the government (respirators, rapid & PCR tests, treatments like Paxlovid and other antivirals).
For increased personal protection against COVID, take a layered approach: be diligent about wearing a respirator in all public places; avoid crowded places like restaurants, bars, and concerts; purchase or build a DIY air purifier for your home and advocate for clean air measures in shared spaces like offices or schools; take rapid antigen or PCR tests before gathering with friends or family.
Ultimately, the system has failed us. However, we can still practice community care and solidarity by wearing a mask in public at all times. For more information about (Long) COVID, masks/respirators, clean air, disability justice, and more, visit resistcovideugenics.carrd.co, linktr.ee/act_up_mask_up, covidtoolbox.com, covid.tips, and/or find a local mask bloc near you (maskbloc.org). #CovidIs Airborne #WearARespirator
Despite profit-based claims otherwise, we are still in a global COVID pandemic. Covid vaccinations may help prevent some severe outcomes and death, but they do not prevent illness, transmission, or Long Covid. Mask up to protect yourself and others from illness, disability (Long Covid), and death.
The following groups are disproportionately affected by Long COVID and/or at greater risk of COVID infection, largely due to existing structures of oppression: disabled people, women, bisexual and trans people, Black people, Indigenous people, children, incarcerated people, people who are unhoused or living in poverty, elderly people, working class people, and immunocompromised people, including people undergoing cancer treatments and people who are HIV-positive.
If you claim to be an ally or accomplice to any marginalized community, you will put the mask back on. We must also demand access to clean, filtered air in schools, public transportation, hospitals, prisons. We must demand free pandemic resources from the government (respirators, rapid & PCR tests, treatments like Paxlovid and other antivirals).
For increased personal protection against COVID, take a layered approach: be diligent about wearing a respirator in all public places; avoid crowded places like restaurants, bars, and concerts; purchase or build a DIY air purifier for your home and advocate for clean air measures in shared spaces like offices or schools; take rapid antigen or PCR tests before gathering with friends or family.
Ultimately, the system has failed us. However, we can still practice community care and solidarity by wearing a mask in public at all times. For more information about (Long) COVID, masks/respirators, clean air, disability justice, and more, visit resistcovideugenics.carrd.co, linktr.ee/act_up_mask_up, covidtoolbox.com, covid.tips, and/or find a local mask bloc near you (maskbloc.org). #CovidIs Airborne #WearARespirator
Despite profit-based claims otherwise, we are still in a global COVID pandemic. Covid vaccinations may help prevent some severe outcomes and death, but they do not prevent illness, transmission, or Long Covid. Mask up to protect yourself and others from illness, disability (Long Covid), and death.
The following groups are disproportionately affected by Long COVID and/or at greater risk of COVID infection, largely due to existing structures of oppression: disabled people, women, bisexual and trans people, Black people, Indigenous people, children, incarcerated people, people who are unhoused or living in poverty, elderly people, working class people, and immunocompromised people, including people undergoing cancer treatments and people who are HIV-positive.
If you claim to be an ally or accomplice to any marginalized community, you will put the mask back on. We must also demand access to clean, filtered air in schools, public transportation, hospitals, prisons. We must demand free pandemic resources from the government (respirators, rapid & PCR tests, treatments like Paxlovid and other antivirals).
For increased personal protection against COVID, take a layered approach: be diligent about wearing a respirator in all public places; avoid crowded places like restaurants, bars, and concerts; purchase or build a DIY air purifier for your home and advocate for clean air measures in shared spaces like offices or schools; take rapid antigen or PCR tests before gathering with friends or family.
Ultimately, the system has failed us. However, we can still practice community care and solidarity by wearing a mask in public at all times. For more information about (Long) COVID, masks/respirators, clean air, disability justice, and more, visit resistcovideugenics.carrd.co, linktr.ee/act_up_mask_up, covidtoolbox.com, covid.tips, and/or find a local mask bloc near you (maskbloc.org). #CovidIs Airborne #WearARespirator
Allies Wear Masks Challenge
Difficulty: Impossible
(but please prove me wrong)
I'm appalled at claims I've seen in various supposedly COVID-realist circles that the virus has apparently "evolved to become milder" despite the fact that there is no evidence for this. None whatsoever.
The reasons why fewer people appear to be dying from the virus are:
• No one can die twice (vulnerable populations have already been culled by fascist governments worldwide who used the virus to save money on long-term care)
• No one tests anymore (medical care providers have effectively stopped testing altogether)
• Vaccines (which do significantly reduce the chances of dying even though they don't significantly reduce the odds of becoming infected or developing Long COVID)
• Deaths are being misattributed (50-year-olds dying of heart attacks? NotCOVID™! Healthy and fit seniors experiencing swift decline after a bout with COVID, only to die shortly after? It's just old age!)
Wear masks for public tasks!
#respirator #MaskUp #BringBackMasks #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #WearARespirator
#HumanArtist #MaskMonday
Today is #MaskedMondays! Post-Mother’s Day edition! Show that you are still #masking by posting your weekly #maskedselfie or other photo as a reply. #masked #mask #maskup #maskup #BringBackMasks #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #n95 #p100 #weareyeprotection #WearARespirator #wearamaskoutside #MaskMonday @covid19 @covid @covidisairborne @auscovid19 @longcovid
Do you experience significant sensory difficulties relating to clothes? Do you, despite that, consistently wear masks to protect yourself from COVID, which is still not over?
Share which #N95-or-better masks you've found to be comfortable for long-time wear. Pictures/links are a bonus.
Friends and comrades, I will not be joining you today at any #April5 #protest
I will be at a wedding...IN A MASK.
As you should too at any protest. A good, high quality N95, not a flimsy surgical or fabric mask that has gaps and can't filter shit.
Stay safe out there. #LongCovid is no joke, peeps. It is hard to fight fascism when you cannot get off the couch.
Have a great day out there! Get charged up and energized! Solidarity to #AntiFascists everyhere!
Today is #MaskedMondays! Show that you are still #masking by posting your weekly #maskedselfie or other photo as a reply. #masked #mask #maskup #maskup #BringBackMasks #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #n95 #p100 #weareyeprotection #WearARespirator #wearamaskoutside #MaskMonday @covid19 @covid @covidisairborne @auscovid19 @longcovid
Anyone protesting on #April5 or #TeslaTakedowns, or any other action, please #WearARespirator. We don’t need any more comrades getting #LongCovid, because #CovidIsNotOver. Please and thank you.
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