Let's be clear. SARS-CoV-2 is an atrociously bad virus. It can damage any number of organ systems, increases risk for all kinds of illnesses, and is causing a mass disabling event. And that's just what we know about it so far. You do not want to get it, and if you've had it you don't want it again.

Unfortunately, leaders, public health officials, and the large majority of the population think it's over and have deemed continued mitigation measures to be unnecessary. The most vulnerable have no choice but to be very cautious and they are being left behind. Many others are doing their best in order to protect themselves and others, but are also in an impossible situation.

Things are complex and dynamic, everyone's lived experience is different, and most folks who remain COVID aware are trying to balance many different and often conflicting priorities. We're often the lone masker indoors, or the ones declining to attend crowded events, or asking our kids to keep wearing their masks in school, or monitoring what information we still have available and trying to make evidence-based decisions for our families.

My concern is that all or nothing will mean nothing for all. So in practical terms that means we need to support and empower and encourage the people who are still doing what they can. For that reason, much of what I am saying now is aimed at the people who wonder if they can and should keep being cautious (yes and yes) even if they can't do it perfectly or they have to balance other things (like work, kids, family and friendship, mental health).

Every bit that we each do is important, but ultimately we aren't going to succeed if our approach relies on individual choices. For that reason I am also focused more on the need for structural improvements like clean indoor air (ventilation, filtration, UV, air quality reporting), wastewater monitoring, genomic surveillance, and vaccines that are not just chasing variants.

We won't all agree on strategic priorities, but I do believe we all share many of the big picture concerns and goals.

So, I really like the atmosphere here so far, and the folks running zeroes.ca have been great, and 5000 characters is sa-weet. But I need to be clear that I am not, and have never been, a hardcore zero COVID person. I wish we had stamped it out in 2021, but we didn't, and we won't now. I have described myself as a Less-COVID-than-this zealot. At this stage, my focus is on balancing evidence (such as we still get) and risk vs. being able to keep being cautious as the rest of the world has moved on. That means extending grace to people who are doing their best and making decisions based on their own circumstances, even if they're doing less than what the strictest measures would entail. I need to be clear about that after what happened on Twitter.

That's all to say that if zeroes.ca is or turns into a hardcore zero COVID zone I am not likely to fit in. I do have an account again on mstdn.science, but haven't switched over.

If you want to avoid purchasing goods sourced from Israel in the UK check the bar code. Prefix 729 indicates product from Israel.

#Israel #Palestine

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

→ → → GOP lawmaker ‘very sad’ Utah parent used his law to request ‘sex-ridden’ Bible be removed from school - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism https://www.rawstory.com/gop-lawmaker-very-sad-utah-parent-used-his-law-to-request-ridden-bible-be-removed-from-school/

RT @thisisasimon
@Tucker5law You know the bit that makes me genuinely livid?

Nadine Dorres' tweet today that said how it was important to say goodbye to leaving staff... but saying goodbye to your gran when she passed away? No not allowed.

It's like they're rubbing your face in it.

Anecdotally I've heard people say they're surprised by how many job applications never get *any* response, not even a rejection.

Seems this is part of why: companies are posting fake job openings to mislead investors, employees, and competitors.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/that-plum-job-listing-may-just-be-a-ghost-3aafc794?mod=mhp

(via @ jamieson on twitter)

The plan to reduce hospital testing for covid is just another step along the road to pretending covid doesn’t exist.

But just pretending a problem doesn’t exist doesn’t make that problem go away.

“Comparisons to the 1930s are deeply inappropriate and tasteless” says Tory MP Simon Clarke.

No, Simon.

Comparisons to 1930s Germany are completely appropriate and needed when govt behaviour demands it. And your ugly rhetoric and illegal Bill demand it. Tasteless to claim otherwise.