this information¶

Since this information is not being communicated by governments or media, here is my COVID guide:

EVERY time you get COVID, you have a small chance of dying, a larger chance of disability, and a MUCH larger chance of increased stroke, heart attack, and all-cause mortality rate. Vaccine immunity wanes. If it's been 6 months since your last dose, you're not much better off than someone who is unvaccinated when it comes to those long-term effects.

This holds true whether you're young or old, have preexisting health conditions or not. Getting infected multiple times makes your chances of death during acute infection go down, but those long-term health effects MUCH WORSE. You're not "building up immunity." You're depleting your immune cells and damaging your organs. Wearing a mask slows airborne transmission; it doesn't eliminate it. The longer you're in an enclosed space with an infected person, the less effectively even a high-quality mask will protect you. We are in a period of high transmission right now. There are so many people around you who are infectious and don't even know it, or think it's nothing more than a cold.

So in the absence of structural supports, what can you do? When in a public, indoor space, wear a well-fitted KN95 or better AT ALL TIMES. If you're taking it off to eat and drink, you're doing it wrong. If you're in a situation where you have to take it off, that is NOT a safe situation to be in. Outdoor transmission is not as bad because of high air flow. But if you're right next to someone infectious, you can still breathe in their aerosol. This is what the original social distancing recommendation was for: giving aerosol time to disperse before it reaches you. Free or low-cost PCRs are still offered. Take advantage of this as often as you can. The chance of false negatives on PCR are much lower than rapid antigen tests.

https://t.co/vhHGem9m4k. If someone you shared an indoor space with (masked or not) or were close to outside tests positive, isolate to the extent possible. Get a PCR at least 2 days after the close contact--it takes at least that long for an infection to be detectable. Isolate until PCR negative. If you test positive, tell everyone and isolate for as long as it takes to test PCR negative. This can potentially take weeks, but it's usually within a week. If your employer refuses to allow you to stay out that long, at least isolate until you test negative by antigen test. This is the KEY deficit of government response: everyone needs the ability to isolate for as long as it takes to not be infectious. That means no fear of being fired, money still coming in, groceries being delivered, free-flowing tests, and REAL contact tracing. If your employer makes it so you can't isolate until you are definitively non-infectious, I'm not blaming you. You are the victim here, as are all the people around you being put at risk.

There are still choices you can make, as an individual. I'm sorry we still have to do this.