"The world has moved on from COVID. The risk hasn’t." - By Professor Adrian Esterman

"An epidemiologist explains what the evidence says about when the next pandemic might happen — and why the risk isn’t declining"

#COVID19 #COVIDisNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #MaskUp😷

Source: https://medium.com/@adrian.esterman/the-world-has-moved-on-from-covid-the-risk-hasnt-57bda9298a96

A mother fox and one of her cubs, in my back garden

At this time of year, I can often see groups of fox cubs, running around, chasing each other, while their mother tries to keep them safe and stop them going too far

#fox #animals #nature #wildlife

Researchers warn of severe long-term damage to the brain after Covid following new study.

"A study published in January followed essential workers who had provided blood samples both before and after contracting Covid. It found that people who developed long-term neurological symptoms after Covid also showed increased levels of phosphorylated tau, a protein linked to early brain degeneration."

Source: https://www.uniladtech.com/science/research-warns-long-term-brain-damage-covid-650802-20260415

Study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(25)00556-0/fulltext

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-20/lifeblood-gender-neutral-assessment-for-blood-donation/106578630

Ever since the emergence of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, and the rampant homophobia and mismanagement in medical professions that helped HIV/AIDS turn into a crisis, the Australian Red Cross has had an overtly anti-LGBT policy regarding who can donate blood or platelets.

The Australian Red Cross insisted on maintaining that policy of exclusion even when called-out for it in recent years. They weren't hiding it; the Blood Bank put it in everyone's face with certain questions in their questionnaire that you fill-in before you donate your blood. I've filled-in those forms and found those questions distasteful. Everyone could see those questions had no basis in medical science, risk management, testing, record-keeping, or their duty of care for patients.

It's shocking to think the hate-based policies of the Australian Red Cross impeded their ability for the last 40 years to collect blood donations from the community to such an extent that it sometimes led to shortages of donor blood in hospitals. This reduced availability and slower emergency access would have cost some patients their life.

I think today's news signals a decades-overdue change of attitude from the Australian Red Cross toward gay and bisexual men and transgender people.

[Edit: nope, it doesn't. The "improved" version of the questionnaire includes a question that's so irrelevant to cis people that it will fly under the radar for most, but it appears designed to hurt and push away trans people.]

I'm yet to see the details, so currently I'm taking it at face-value and with cautious optimism. All-up, I hope that means better care for everyone.

[Edit: now I've seen some of the details, thanks to comments below. This "update" by Australian Red Cross is not about inclusion. It's about enshrining their exclusion of trans people. And the Australian Red Cross are giving themself a pat on the back for it. It's revolting.]

#Lifeblood #BloodBank #HIVAIDS #RedCross #AustralianRedCross #LGBT #LGBTQIA