Rachel Adelson

If you’re a person who cares about not disabling and harming other human beings, including children, you must know that nearly half of COVID cases are asymptomatic, that Covid spreads before symptoms begin, and that you have a responsibility not to harm others. That is simply humanity.

The framing “it’s unreasonable to ask me to mask” reminds me of climate change discussions - “it’s unreasonable to ask for net zero” etc - bc ppl think of the politics as more “real” than the science. Sometimes things are hard or unfair but reality and science don’t care

More measles in South Carolina as US nears 1,600 confirmed cases

The US is on track to lose its measles elimination status this year or early next year.
The current public health leadership seems intent to ignore the outbreak until more children die avoidable deaths.
The vaccine is the most effective way to end the outbreak.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/more...

The regional Canadian COVID forecast can be found here: bsky.app/profile/mori...

Safe Care Ontario Advocating for universal masking protections in healthcare and other mitigation tools. Airborne pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, pose a risk to EVERYONE's health ...

COVID outbreak risk remains in #ONhealth hospitals without layers of protection.

Universal masking in ALL areas of #Ontario hospitals is essential for safe healthcare access.

Let regional decision-makers know this is a priority.

@safecare.initiative.works
Take action:
safecare.initiative.works

Since I read discourse today, a reminder:

If everyone took their COVID shots, if we had contact tracing & prompt use of post-exposure antivirals, and if we had clean indoor air standards; we could get the reproduction number for SARS-CoV-2 well below 1 & keep it there.

Until then, wear your mask.

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

New article out this month on how doctors become fascists.

50% of German physicians joined the Nazi Party––twice the proportion of any other profession. US doctors today are arguably the most conservative in the world, and we're heading along a similar path.
drive.google.com/file/d/1CAk9...

I hope this recent essay for The Lancet is useful as a pairing with the one above and will be read alongside it.
drive.google.com/file/d/1eDrf...

To our U.S. Colleagues,

Condolences on the loss of the CDC’s MMWR.

3 resources that may help
🇨🇦

Tens of millions of people have died from Covid.

Every country should have responded with record investments in public health infrastructure.

Instead the US government is putting us all at greater risk of more catastrophes by firing hundreds of top scientists whose job is to prevent outbreaks.

💯

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

This is beyond bad. All of our disease defenses are down now. We are sitting ducks. This is #RussellVought #DonaldTrump #RFKJr. They are endangering American lives with their insane crusade. These men are hazardous to your health and dangerous to the republic. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

Hundreds of U.S. students quarantined amid measles outbreaks At least 270 unvaccinated kids are staying home from school as measles continues to spread nationwide. "Expect more," one expert said.

The parents of those 270 kids could get them vaccinated so the can return to school 🤷🏽‍♀️.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Masks will be required in all Health P.E.I. facilities starting Oct. 14 | CBC News Officials with Health P.E.I. say people will have to wear masks inside all of the provincial health authority’s facilities beginning next week.

Masks required again in all P.E.I. Health Facilities because “Masks are are known to be one of those easy measures that we can implement to ensure the safety and the health of our health-care workforce and our overall health-care system"

www.cbc.ca/news/canad%E...

Comparative risk of post-acute sequelae among adults following SARS-CoV-2 or influenza virus infection: A retrospective cohort study among United States adults Author summary Why was this study done? It is known that people may suffer medical complications long after COVID-19, which are called post-acute sequelae (PAS). Similar sequelae are also known to h...

Influenza versus Cövid.

826 COVID vs 89 flu deaths, and within 90 days, 1,391 COVID vs 149 flu deaths, showing worse outcomes for COVID-19

Rough maths? About 10 times more fatal

journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

So many reasons to be a proud Canadian ☺️🇨🇦

#cdnpoli

Health P.E.I. is reinstating a mandatory masking policy in all of its facilities in response to the growing presence of respiratory illnesses on the Island.

Masks will be required in all Health P.E.I. facilities starting Oct. 14 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-mask-mandate-health-facilites-9.6934985

𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter

Plunking air purifiers in schools in random locations given the complexity of air movement in these complicated buildings with lots of human movement was never likely to do that much. Proper air cleaning requires expert analysis of air movements compared with human activities in the spaces.

5. And remember, if you believe that Covid is 'gone', you will, by definition, never, ever consider that you may have Long Covid.

/end

The MMR vaccine is one of the most stunningly effective medical therapeutics in existence. It’s also safer than most of your everyday activities. This is simply an attempt to stop people from vaccinating.

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

Bruce Arthur: The B.C. ostrich affair is not about the birds This isn’t really about the ostriches, but rather it's about basic biosecurity in the age of viruses, and whether a government can make and enforce laws and policy.

The fight about the BC ostrich farm is not really about the ostriches. It’s about far more important things than that. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

In the aftermath of Jane Goodall’s passing, @keriannmcgoogan.bsky.social can feel only immense gratitude—not just for Goodall’s scientific contributions but for the way she inspired her and countless other women to believe in their ability to make change. thewalrus.ca/jane-goodall/

What timing! The "planetary health diet" has just been updated: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back

Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back https://theonion.com/health-experts-recommend-standing-up-at-desk-leaving-o-1819577456/