Notices by Dr. Lucky Tran :verified: (luckytran@med-mastodon.com), page 4

Polls continue to show white people are far less likely to take #COVID precautions.

% who have changed behavior due to news of increases of COVID (inc. wearing a mask or avoiding high risk spaces):

Black 59%
Hispanic 52%
White 29%

Source: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2023/

COVID impacts Black and Brown communities the hardest.

Communities of color are far more likely to take COVID precautions such as wearing a mask or avoiding high risk spaces.

If you care about racial justice, you should be continuing to take actions to mitigate COVID spread.

Overall, 4 in 10 people in the US have taken recent precautions (inc. masking or avoiding spaces) because of increases of COVID-19.

Imagine how many more would if instead of minimizing, the government told them it was important to continue precautions.

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2023/

We keep hearing leaders talking about preventing the next pandemic. But I will only believe that policymakers are serious about preventing the next pandemic when they show that they are taking active steps to stop the current ongoing pandemic. #CovidIsNotOver

A new study suggests that fully remote workers may produce less than half the climate-warming emissions of people who spend their days in offices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/09/18/work-from-home-carbon-footprint/

UPDATE: Over the last month, some hospitals in New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California have reinstated their mask mandates due to the rise in #COVID19 cases.

Hospitals in several other states including North Carolina and Washington say they are also considering reinstating their mask requirements.

Keep speaking up!

#KeepMasksInHealthcare

Canada: Sarah Ben Sabat was forced to quit her job after her boss told her she can’t wear a mask at work.

#COVID is one of the biggest worker safety and labor justice issues of our time. Where are the labor unions? Where is the left?

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2262883907506

Some have given up on masking as they think there's no point if masks can't singlehandedly eradicate a virus (a right wing talking point). What they're missing is that higher risk people can't even get healthcare due to a lack of masking. Masks make essential spaces accessible.

City of Hope in Duarte, California, has maintained masking requirements, and this has prevented hospital-acquired #COVID19 there entirely, according to Vijay Trisal, MD, chief medical officer at City of Hope.

“Our policies enabled us to achieve zero nosocomial infections, zero outbreaks.”

https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/home/cancer-topics/general-oncology/mask-mandates-have-kept-one-cancer-center-free-from-covid-19-others-have-lifted-masking-requirements-despite-patient-concerns/

Great news: Free KN95 masks are now available from public health vending machines in NYC.

This is amazing work! Not everyone can afford to buy high quality masks regularly. If we want more people to wear masks, high quality masks should be available for free everywhere. Having them in public health vending machines in NYC is a great first step!

As #COVID rates rise, new variants spread, and hospitals, schools, and workplaces are reinstating mask mandates, the CDC is preparing to weaken guidelines for infection control in healthcare settings (again). https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2023/08/21/cdc-poised-to-weaken-masking-infection-control/?sh=e3e6a3525174

Heartbroken for Maui. How much longer will we sit and watch things burn before we truly act like our house is on fire?

"The era of global warming has ended. The era of global boiling has arrived.

The air is unbreathable, the heat is unbearable, and the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.

Humanity has unleashed destruction. This must not inspire despair, but action."

— United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

What motivates antivaxxers? Their harmful grift is extremely profitable.

RFK Jr earned $1.5M from suing Merck over their HPV vaccine, and he earned over $500K from his "non-profit" Children’s Health Defense, which spreads disinformation about vaccines.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2023/07/01/how-rfk-jr-brought-in-more-than-9-million-over-the-past-18-months/?sh=456505427760

Reminder: The tools that protect us from #COVID — masks, air filters, and structural policies like expanded healthcare access — are the tools that we need to protect us from the #climate crisis, which is causing a decrease in air quality and increase of disease outbreaks.

When a billionaire wants to tell you what is morally wrong, always ignore them. Their goal is to pit workers against each other so that they can preserve their own wealth and power.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/elon-musk-work-from-home-morally-wrong/

In the UK they are stopping people who are wearing a mask from voting. It’s unacceptable to exclude high risk people from democracy.

"The goal of oppressors is to limit your imagination about what is possible without them, so you might never imagine more for yourself and the world you live in. Imagine something better. Get curious about what it actually takes to make it happen. Then fight for it every day." — Ashley C. Ford

#MondayMotivation

Great illustration of how astroturf groups and unchecked opinion pieces create doubt in science. Sound familiar?

https://jensorensen.com/2014/03/17/corporate-cosmos/

Wanting more #COVID-19 protections because the pandemic isn't over is not an extremist position.

The real extremist position is to allow mass reinfection, death, and chronic illness to continue and exclude higher risk people out of society indefinitely.