"The virus is rampant. We’re still in a pandemic. There’s a lot of complacency at the individual level, and more concerning to me is that at the government level.

"Using masks for respiratory pathogens that transmit through the air is a no-brainer—plus vaccination, plus distancing, plus improving ventilation."

We don’t know everything about this virus. Even in year five, there’s still a lot of research that needs to be done."

- Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/

Rampant COVID Poses New Challenges in the Fifth Year of the Pandemic

“We’re still in a pandemic,” says a lead COVID official with the World Health Organization

Scientific American
@luckytran FYI there's a big fat paywall on this

@luckytran

(1/n)

#Pandemie

#Weltgesundheitsorganisation [nachdem nun in den USA die Covid-19-Viruslast im Abwasser jetzt höher ist als jemals zuvor im Januar/Februar:*]

"Das Virus ist weit verbreitet. Wir befinden uns immer noch in einer Pandemie.

Es gibt viel Selbstgefälligkeit auf individueller Ebene, und noch besorgniserregender finde ich die auf Regierungsebene...

https://med-mastodon.com/@luckytran/111885718632334421

Dr. Lucky Tran :verified: (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Something notable from this chart comparing U.S. COVID wastewater levels by year, is that we've never seen levels this high at this time of the year! (indicated by the black line representing current levels, crossing the blue line representing Omicron levels in 2022)

Med-Mastodon

@luckytran

(2/2) #Pandemie #Covid19 #Gesundheit

..."Die Verwendung von #Masken bei Erregern der #Atemwege, die über die Luft übertragen werden, ist eine Selbstverständlichkeit - plus Impfung, plus Distanzierung, plus Verbesserung der Belüftung."

Wir wissen nicht alles über dieses Virus. Selbst im fünften Jahr gibt es noch viel zu erforschen."

Dr. Maria #VanKerkhove, #WHO"

#DieMaskeBleibtAuf

#MaskUp

//

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/

Rampant COVID Poses New Challenges in the Fifth Year of the Pandemic

“We’re still in a pandemic,” says a lead COVID official with the World Health Organization

Scientific American
So far the one obvious thing politics has managed is to establish is a concept of public health "new borrowing" adjacent to the financial, and a sense that both are in a way "necessary" for a continued business-as-usual-ing.
@luckytran I wish articles like this would use masked photos of the speaker which would more appropriately match a world in which covid is "rampant". Even if people do nothing but read the headline and see a masked photo before scrolling by, at least it might be a tiny step in planting a seed and/or normalizing masks.

@ikuo1000 @luckytran

This! It drives me nuts that even the people most vocally advocating masking for the past few years publish photos of themselves *not wearing masks*, even when around other people. It's harder to advocate for masking as a non-expert when even the experts don't appear to be wearing them.

@luckytran I’m happy that Dr. Van Kerkhove is acknowledging the seriousness of the ongoing pandemic. I do wish that she would take the next step and acknowledge her own role in bringing about the widespread complacency—specifically, her repeatedly denying airborne transmission and downplaying the importance of masks. By describing her own journey from droplet dogma to accepting the current understanding of airborne transmission, she could help others in public health accept it.

@feisty_lemming @luckytran

I mean.... all of this....plus... saying all of what she said, but NOT actually *wearing* a freaking mask while saying it? That's kinda like warning that smoking causes cancer while smoking a cigarette.

@luckytran @mmalc how about we force everyone back into an office instead?

@ij_baird @luckytran

Everyone? I’m not sure there’d be enough space?

@mmalc @luckytran I thought Apple Park could hold the entire universe, or is Apple still the biggest lease-holder / building-owner in Cupertino?

@ij_baird @luckytran

Apple Park is indeed large, but some people are larger 😊