Charlie StrossDec 27, 2022

Reminder, folks: the COVID19 pandemic is NOT over, it's just that the big commercial landlords decided it was hurting their business rents so leaned hard on the politicians and media to SAY that it's over.

Right now China is in the FO phase of FAFO, and involuntarily providing an amplifier for a new extra-virulent strain that'll make an end run around our half-assed vaccines AGAIN.

Stay safe in 2023!

Show threadCharlie StrossDec 27, 2022
I will add that masking/distancing/vaccination is all good, but what we REALLY need is forced PM2.5 air filtration in all public spaces. Schools, hospitals, universities, shops, restaurants, cinemas: on trains, buses, planes, and passenger ships. And ESPECIALLY schools and hospitals. These premises have always been viral disease amplifiers, but filtration stops it spreading at source.
Show threadKevin Bowersox
@cstross
Air filtration might be a good idea in its own right, but it will not help much with diseases spread by tiny droplets like Covid-19 does.

Also, I don't think pressure from retailers alone is behind the reduced emphasis on Covid-19. The 70+% vaccination rates, the vaccine effectiveness (China's vacc excepted), and improved treatments reduced the danger. That in addition to economic concerns would account for it. Its not over. But it is becoming endemic and is at a level that it is reasonable to say that it no longer requires intervention from the government. It's always a balance between freedom and safety and the exact position of the fulcrum is never 100% clear.
Dec 27, 2022 at 3:02pmWeb
Show threadTeresaDec 27, 2022
@cstross @snerkrabbledauber covid is airborne. We are also finding out that many respiratory viruses are airborne and not spread by fomites as we previously thought. (All goes back to TB research)
Show threadCharlie StrossDec 27, 2022
@snerkrabbledauber "no longer requires intervention from the government" is a great way to ignore the screaming labour shortage that has largely resulted from the end of free movement with the EU *and* about 2-5% of the workforce becoming long-term disabled.
Show threadmacoDec 27, 2022
@snerkrabbledauber @cstross the droplet theory is dead; it’s airborne. HEPA filters remove viruses from the air.
Show threadinoasDec 27, 2022
@maco @snerkrabbledauber @cstross where can I read more about this. I am angry that we did not get HEPA filters in public transportation ages ago and some compartmentalization. So I am curious if this really helps.
Show threadGraydonDec 27, 2022

@snerkrabbledauber @cstross HEPA filters absolutely do block SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

"Airborne precautions" is the traditional term of art. It works. I'd be cranking up the rate of air changes per hour, but people are developing careful factual standards for this.

Every time you catch COVID, your brain shrinks, your immune system gets dysregulated, your cells get aged, and you suffer vascular assault. The assumption of indefinite survivability is intensely questionable.

Show threadJames WidmanDec 27, 2022

@snerkrabbledauber
Please listen to anyone whose PhD thesis deals with the behavior of aerosols—or anyone who specializes in the study or treatment of aerosol-borne viruses.

They have been vocally advocating the use of MERV-13 filters, improved ventilation, and N95-or-better pretty much since the start of the pandemic.

They have been largely ignored, although that is finally starting to change (e.g. u.s. federal building requirements now require the use of MERV-13 filters.)

Show threadwimDec 28, 2022
@cstross @snerkrabbledauber there’s been numerous studies showing air filtration reducing infection rates. I suppose because of either the specific filter or because most virus coasts on droplets big enough to be caught.