Incoming Family Medicine Resident Physician
@thenosm
๐ฉบ
MSc in Health Promotion
@westernu
๐ท
Founder of
@C19TestFinders
๐งช
Proud Mother & Wife ๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ
"I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
Edward Everett Hale
Safe to say, after 2+ years of living through this pandemic... I've normalized masking up
I don't even think twice when leaving my home it's become automatic that I reach for my N95
Masking has not been an inconvenience because there is nothing more convenient to me than health
My Dad told me that from all the reasons Iโve told him to mask in public, what resonated most with him was the fact that if we mask and weโre wrong to, it doesnโt cost us or anyone else anythingโฆ whereas if we donโt mask and weโre wrong, it costs us our health and that of others
I wonder how our attitude around
#COVID
would shift if everyone received a โCOVID care bundleโ ๐ฆ
Inside would be a COVID rapid test kit, different-sized N95 masks, a list of nearby locations which offered updated vaccines, CR box instructions, and most importantly:
I am getting mainstream media interview requests to talk about mask mandates. Something is brewing. Now is the time to contact your elected officials to
#BringBackMasks
Call, tweet, email, write, do all the things like your life depends on it, because for some people, it does.
What you see:
The majority of people not masking indoors
What you don't see:
The majority of people who limit being indoors because of those not masking
What is needed:
#BringBackMasks
in essential public spaces to make those services accessible to all
Itโs my birthday weekend! ๐๐
Sharing to celebrate with all those who take safety precautions so that themselves and others can live long and healthy lives
The latest celebrity to
#BringBackMasks
is Hollywoodโs Barbie star
โMargot Robbie put safety first during a night out with husband Tom Ackerley on Monday (September 18) in Los Angeles.โ
Queensland: "Doctors are acquiring RSV, COVID and influenza in the stateโs hospitals in rising numbers, sparking the stateโs peak medical body to call for urgent action to better protect medics in an already struggling healthcare workforce."
@qldhealth
I havenโt taken a breath indoors outside of my home without an N95 ๐ท
How many others out there are consistently shattering chains of infection because they wear a respirator?
Protecting yourself and others from an infectious disease isnโt rocket science, itโs just science.
Seeing all the bourgeoisie benefit from clean air, testing, fitted masks, and COVID airborne education while the rest of the world are given piecemeal protections is giving me โlet them eat cakeโ vibes
#DavosSafe
The benefits of decreasing the risk of long COVID, hospitalization, and death far outweighs feeling discomfort when masking
I donโt know what more there is to say than that
Face masks to return at Tour de France to limit COVID-19 cases
"I don't mind, as long as we protect our health, I'd rather wear a face mask than have everyone panic again due to the epidemic and see riders are out of action due to COVID."
- leader Gaudu
โฆand
#BringBackMasks
is trending again. And yes, I will tweet about it every time it goes viral because the more people who wear fitted masks the more preventable infections,
#LongCovid
, and deaths we can stop ๐ โ
People who havenโt had
#COVID
recently, or at all, arenโt unicorns
Weโve upgraded our masks and updated our vaccines. We make the invisible visible with rapid tests and CO2 monitors. We assess risk
People say Iโm lucky not to have had COVID, but chance favours the prepared mind
Donโt mind me shamelessly flooding my timeline with masked pictures. The more we see it the more we can normalize it
My background in medicine and health promotion drives my commitment to putting science into action through mask-wearing for a healthier world
It lifts my spirits when I see people who mask (and pinch it at the nose).
Without knowing you, I already know you value health, youโre adaptable, you donโt fold under peer pressure, youโre considerate, and/or evidence-informedโฆ the list goes on.
Today, an electrician gladly donned the N95 mask I offered, only to later reveal that homeowners drove him to unmask!
The absurdity of protective gear becoming a faux pas is baffling.
Kudos to the mask-wearing champions who remain undeterred.
I see you, Iโm with you.
When I tweet about masking I gain followers, a lot of them.
There are many you donโt see who continue to mask up beyond what is mandated.
For us, the value of health exceeds that of โnormalcyโ.
We need more encouragement for and from the COVID-informed community
Hubby and I are still motivated to
#KeepMasksInHealthCare
, letโs see how many others from
#MedTwitter
are doing the same
If youโre a health care professional who still masks at work drop a comment below ๐
When I speak to people in public places, many will see my mask and automatically ask me to repeat myself before I even finish speaking.
Iโve seen this prejudice with my immigrant parents who speak fluent English but have foreign accents. 1/2
Anyone else feel like theyโre living a double life?
Now that weโre no longer โin this togetherโ, mentioning
#COVID19
precautions seems taboo in most professional and social settings
Longing for the days when protecting and promoting health was valuedโฆ.
As we head into winter
๐ฉ๐ช: Mandatory use of N95-type masks during long-distance travel, ๐ท+RAT before accessing hospitals, nursing homes etc.
๐จ๐ฆ: COVID is not overโฆ but weโre relaxing all of our PH protections
๐บ๐ธ: The pandemic is over, you do you
Are people truly tired of keeping themselves and their community safe or are they just being told theyโre tired?
Iโm not tired of masking, cleaning the air, vaccinating, and testing. My health and that of others are benefiting
What Iโm tired of is disinformation.
Look closely, mainstream media have started using cover pictures with people donning respirators rather than blue surgical masks.
You will also hear experts recommend โwell fitted, high quality masksโ. Thatโs code for N95s or higher
#covidisairborne
and better masks work better
After
@WHO
declared
#XBB15
the most transmissible variant detected to date, something happened on Twitter that our leaders have not yet done.
You are advocating to
#BringBackMasks
and it is starting to go viral.
Fitted masks will help stop the spread of COVID in its tracks โ๐
I think itโs worth tweeting:
@WHO
has determined that the global
#COVID19
pandemic *continues* to constitute a public health emergency of international concern
COVID-19 is a *leading* (preventable!) cause of death around the ๐
Some people use all protections available (๐จ ๐งช ๐๐ท) and yet still got infected with
#COVID
, some more than once, for factors beyond their control
โIndividualโ public health has limits, thatโs why โpublicโ (population level) health was created
If you are masking and advocating for masking, remember me.
Iโm in your corner.
I am cheering you on from afar.
You. Are. Making. A. Positive. Impact.
Our community is healthier because of you.
Iโm ever grateful for you.
I give you my heartfelt respect and support.
Out of civic duty I mask every time I leave the house
โOne for all, all for oneโ isnโt a platitude, itโs a cornerstone to foster a healthier community
Evidence-based information on how COVID spreads, the short- and long-term (
#longcovid
) health impacts, and clear guidance to prevent respiratory infections
Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity
Iโm old enough to remember when masking was a good thing because it helped curb the transmission of viruses which in turn helped protect our community, and preserve our health care system
Some people ask me when I think the pandemic will be over. I reply thereโs no way for me to know.
However, given an end date is beyond our control at this time, Iโve normalized โN95ingโ ๐ท and adapting to protect health. This is how I live with COVID, and itโs my new normal
I canโt shake the feeling that we continue to be cheated out of getting through this pandemic safely
A short ๐งต on some of the reasons
#CovidIsntOver
I flew for the first time since BC ("before COVID" but also feels like "before Christ"). In my risk assessment, it was necessary given my circumstances....
To โฌ๏ธ the COVID risk for others + myself I wore glasses, a fitted mask, rapid tested, and used all the filtered air I could
Hearing a lot of masking recommendations for those at high risk
Iโm not sure how many times this needs to be said, but I will continue to say it until it takes hold:
#COVIDIsAirborne
We all share the air we breathe
Collective, not individual, action will keep our community safe
Key findings on
#COVID
from the US Dept of Homeland Security
@DHSgov
:
๐ Face masks are effective at โฌ๏ธ COVID infections; mask fit and filter efficiency are critical components
๐ COVID is easily transmitted between humans including aerosol transmission
1/2
Yep, Iโm still tweeting about
#COVID
because *checks notes* itโs still among the leading causes of death in most countries ๐
(3rd in ๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฆ๐บ)
There has been minimal media coverage, so donโt mind my tweets about the pandemicโฆ because weโre still very much in the midst of it
The Government of New Zealand on COVID:
โก๏ธ The. Best. Protection. Is. When. Everyone. Wears. A. Mask.
Published July 17, 2023
This public health messaging applies not just in NZ, but across the ๐
The best protection is when everyone wears a mask.
Even if you're fully vaccinated or have had viruses in the past, wearing a mask is important to help keep you, your whฤnau and your community safe.
We should clean the air because SARS-CoV-2 is airborne
We should clean the air because TB is airborne
We should clean the air because Pertussis is airborne
We should clean the air because Influenza is airborne
We should clean the air because Measles is airborne
Walking through the mall (because you know, you can still do ordinary stuff while incognito), I excitedly saw someone sporting a ๐ท
I couldnโt contain my excitement & blurted out,
โHi, mask friend!โ
To my sheer delight, they shot back with a warm,
โItโs so nice to see you!โ ๐ซถ
Iโm always interested in growing our COVID-safe community. I want to listen, and learn from you.
If you follow COVID precautions like this tweet, I will vet and do my best to follow you ๐ฅ
COVID is the third leading cause of death in ๐บ๐ธ
COVID is the third leading cause of death in ๐จ๐ฆ
COVID is a PREVENTABLE infectious disease.
The response from our leaders? ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ
Can we talk about the fact that thanks to
@ChrisCuomo
and his series on
#LongCovid
, 2M+ followers are learning about the long term health consequences of COVID
Education is empowerment
As Physician and Scientist Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly told me tonight, we must initiate the conversation to solve the problem of long covid despite pandemic fatigue.ย Iโm going to stay on this as long as it takes until we get answers.
In George Orwellโs โ1984,โ the protagonist is tortured until he agrees that two plus two equals five. The point, his torturer makes clear, is to make him see that there is no objective truth other than what the party says is true. Thatโs the deep power of information pollution.
If hand hygiene was so effective to stop
#COVID
, wouldnโt we have curbed the transmission by now?
Time to try another approachโฆ clean air and N95s anyone?
Itโs not rocket science, itโs just science.
Weโre in a dangerous point in time
Weโve normalized political health
Weโve normalized mass infection, disability and death
Weโve normalized a crippled health care system
Now more than ever we need to remain vigilant, evidence-based, and vocal for a healthy and safe future
Here's some fantastic news!
While we observed the reinstatement of mask mandates in numerous ๐บ๐ธ hospitals, it's now official in ๐จ๐ฆ too!
Masks should never have been taken away from healthcare settings. Letโs hope that more healthcare facilities
#BringBackMasks
โฆ and keep them!
Remember THAT flawed scientific review published in Cochrane that mislead the public into thinking โmasks donโt workโ?
The editor in chief of The Cochrane Libraryโs response: โthis wording was open to misinterpretation, for which we apologizeโ
Debated going to a restaurant for the first time since the onset of the pandemic
Ultimately, I went to honour a friendโs milestone, recognizing that celebrations need not hinge on drinks
Wearing a mask is my new normal, and it doesnโt impede my ability to live life fully
#CovidIsAirborne
and invisibleโฆ making it easy to spread from person to person ๐ซฅ
We may soon be able to make the invisible visible with a new COVID-detecting device ๐ต๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ปโโ๏ธ
This breakthrough could finally be the impetus to standardize clean air and help protect health ๐จ
We did it friends!
We're trending
#BringBackMasks
so we can draw attention to the need for high quality (N95+) fitted ๐ท to help curb the transmission of
#COVID19
The ultimate goal of masking is to help protect our community from the negative impacts of infection &
#LongCOVID
Thereโs cold comfort in knowing billionaires at Davos took every PH precaution they could to avoid
#COVID19
It validates protecting ourselves from a novel airborne virus with potential short and long term negative health sequelae
1/2
I've encountered patients who are reluctant to wear masks, but I've never come across a patient who doesn't want their healthcare provider to wear one.
Masks belong in healthcare.