… because of course the next pathogen will work exactly like the last one 
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To be honest, in this context “the next pathogen”1) itself is the lesser of my worries.
1) Should we make a bingo card or start a pool?
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Today is our daughter’s birthday, we usually have a backyard picnic with her, her husband and a couple good friends.
Our daughter and husband are the only guests left.
Respiratory infections and pink eye is leaving everyone else at home.
At least our group of friends know better.
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Same thing here, with plans shifted due to a sticky mutation of a cold virus spewed from my son’s fermentation vat of a high school.
What’s giving me pause is the rebound in COVID cases in Ontario. I’ve posted positivity but all the plots from Public Health Ontario are pointing to a bit of a spring wave. 
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My wife took a feral cat in to be neutered, it’s a busy place, she said several people dropping off and picking up kitties along with some staff were wearing masks.
Yay.
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Will crosspost to the other health/pandemic thread…
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Oh for the love of god.
A long time friend of ours, in her 40s, has had a respiratory infection for a few weeks, she’s currently at a big seminar out of state for her job. Oh yeah, they work with kids.
I follow a couple local sub reditts. The big topic lately is all the respiratory illness that lasts for weeks.
Our masks are not going anywhere.
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Down my way, I would test for pertussis first. And yeah, masks all day every day. Stupid people frustrate the hell out of me…
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Fuckitty fuck fuck fuck.
My neighbor, that I’ve know since I was born, has been fighting an upper respiratory infection for weeks.
The first doctor visit sent him home with steroids and antibiotics, no x-ray or blood work. The next visit a couple weeks later more steroids but still no x-ray or blood work.
Yesterday they finally took an x-ray. As soon as the doctor saw it he ordered a ct scan.
He’s currently in the hospital waiting to see if there’s a treatment plan for the lung cancer that’s already spread to his liver.
Life sucks so hard some days.
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I liked this as an update and overview of what’s important. Part 2 is on the way.
Did you know that, at the current rate of infections, most Americans may end up with some form of Long COVID? …
Dr. Phillip Alvelda, a former program manager in DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office, which pioneered the synthetic biology industry and mRNA vaccine technology, is the founder of Medio Labs, a major COVID diagnostic testing company. …
LP: With COVID mitigation efforts dwindling, besides getting boosters and updated vaccines, what other personal protections can help us in our daily routines? What steps should we prioritize?
PA: The most important thing to know is that there are certain physical things that the virus can’t escape, no matter how it mutates. As long as you have an N95 mask, that’s great protection for you. …
Number two is that fresh air is king. Wherever you are, open the windows. Open the doors. Advocate for improved air quality standards.
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Also from that article…
LP: What’s the cost of a device for measuring CO2? Is there an easily affordable device?
PA: Absolutely. You can get a $50 device that shows the CO2 concentration in a room. Every classroom should have this, and every office, every workplace. There are a couple of other things they should be doing, too. They can augment it with filtration with MERV 13 filters. If you can’t do it in the building’s HVAC infrastructure, you can make portable ones for about $60 [See Corsi Rosenthal Boxes]. The other thing that is super important and super powerful, probably the best thing we could do, is what are called germicidal UV lamps. If you set those up in a room, it’s equivalent to about 24 air exchanges per hour. So they’re even better than ventilation and filtering.
I should point out that there are, in fact, places that have installed all of these: fresh air, filtering, and germicidal UV lights. Do you know where they are?
LP: Where?
PA: The White House, Congress, Number 10 Downing, Parliament, the Reichstag, and WHO. All of our leaders have these protections and procedures in place.
LP: But not our schoolchildren.
PA: Well, the school where [former CDC director] Rochelle Walensky’s children go, they have these upgrades.
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That’s something I hadn’t paid attention to. There’s a research summary from the 
National Microbiology Laboratory the Government info site that confirms UV-C lamps to be effective against SARS-CoV-2.
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Just to clarify, you can’t set up UV-C lamps in a room that’s in use. Since fomites aren’t a big issue in COVID transmission, the kind of UV system that would work is an Upper Air Fixture that cycles room air through a contained zone of high-intensity UV-C light. Exposure to UV-C light can cause skin burns and severe eye damage.
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I have the equivalent attached to my aquarium filter. It’s amazing – even minor outbreaks don’t happen any more. 
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We went to visit our friend, that I talked about above, at the largest hospital in Michigan.
We only saw a custodian and transport person wearing a mask.
But what impressed me was the air quality.
Outdoor air CO2 should be around 400 ppm. All the common areas inside the hospital were under 450 and the patient’s room was 530.
Still wore masks but those numbers mean they’re doing what they should be doing.
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Because of course they are.
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