Right now COVID is severely surging locally and across the country, and infection levels are high. Many readers will want to ignore the rest of this writing; we are exhausted by this unremitting pandemic and many are coping by dissociating. Dissociation is a protective response to trauma, but not a state to live in endlessly, so please tune back in.
I’m writing to say that masking is an intelligent, adaptive, compassionate practice. If you’ve stopped, it’s never too late to start again.
When this country first introduced laws against drinking and driving, as well as laws enforcing seat-belt wearing, people were outraged by their “personal freedoms” being infringed upon. Nowadays, these safety measures are common sense. People who refuse them are understood to be acting irresponsibly, compromising their own and others’ safety.
Masking within a pandemic of a dangerous airborne virus is comparable. It’s a demonstration of care for yourself and others. It is not “living in the past,” as some mistakenly believe. It’s adapting to our reality and a near future where climate change will necessitate more masking as we navigate other pandemics and wildfire smoke.
These are not pleasant truths, but we must be willing to face and adjust to them; our collective survival depends on actively caring for one another in tumultuous times.
It’s now well-known that COVID causes lasting damage to all major organ systems. It also suppresses the immune system very similarly to HIV, and each reinfection leaves you more susceptible to long COVID and other serious illnesses. Over 18 million Americans are living with long COVID; that number is steadily rising. If you read about people suffering from long COVID — which I highly encourage — you wouldn’t wish it on yourself, and you’d certainly not want to be culpable for someone else developing it.
Taking COVID precautions protects the most vulnerable among us. Sadly, individualistic thinking has caused most to “move on,” to stop considering the most vulnerable, simultaneously separating themselves from this category. It’s imperative for people to understand that everyone is vulnerable to long COVID, including children. One in 6 children who catch COVID develop symptoms of long COVID.
Children are our future; they deserve a chance at healthy, long lives, and adults are responsible for ensuring this. We must advocate for science-based precautions in schools, which are hotbeds for virus transmission. Better equipping them to mitigate COVID spread would be a boon for overall public health.
Linked here is a letter by Michael Hoerger outlining recommendations for how schools can keep kids safe: [avl.mx/dag]. Everyone should share this with school administrations and anyone who might have influence or decision-making authority when it comes to safety protocols in schools.
For those interested in understanding the immeasurably harmful minimization of COVID’s seriousness in the public sphere, please read this well-researched piece of writing: [avl.mx/dah].
For those who want insight into long COVID, here are two eye-opening accounts: [avl.mx/dai] and [avl.mx/daj].
Last, if you feel stuck in dissociation, it’s not surprising in a society that discourages people from feeling deeply. We’ve lost so much to the pandemic, but our culture doesn’t allow space for grieving and instead pushes “business as usual” (read: racialized capitalism).
Please grant yourself permission to grieve. Grief can be a transformative portal into a deeper relationship with oneself and with others; just like this pandemic could be a portal into practicing true reciprocal community care, if we allow it to be.
— V. King
Asheville
You lost me here.
“We’ve lost so much to the pandemic, but our culture doesn’t allow space for grieving and instead pushes “business as usual” (read: racialized capitalism).”
Everything is about race for King, even mask wearing.
Yes, I’m confused about that, too. I will say this: we’ve been isolated due to lockdowns for several years. Isolation from other humans for any length of time causes massive damage to brain’s hypothalamus which means we lose memory/brain function I.O.W. we become less intelligent and don’t remember some things we’ve learned. This is extremely well-documented in a book “The Indoctrinated Brain” by Michael Nehls, M.D. PhD. The author really knows what he’s talking about, isn’t just a doctor, he’s also molecular geneticist and what he says makes so much sense. He explains how our brain functions and what happens to it under less than ideal circumstances. Everyone should read this book, it’s backed up with tons of excellent research. I will also add this:
My husband has over 50 yrs research as virologist/immunologist and worked for Public Health Dept of PA for many years. This agency advised the public on how to manage disease, epidemics, etc. My husband says it is well -known that these masks do NOT keep out viruses as holes in mask are too large for most if not all viruses, which are quite small. By wearing a mask you are keeping bacteria in the mask and are breathing it in. This can cause illness, especially if mask is worn more than about 20 minutes. Any virologist will tell you this. Surgeons wear these masks during surgery to keep them from infecting the patient they are performing surgery on. I’m just posting this for people to decide for themselves what they should do. I will also say that Public Health Dept. NEVER mandated any procedure, it was always up to the individual. It is against Nuremberg Code to mandate any medical procedures and masks are considered medical procedures. IOW, anyone mandating a mask is violating Nuremberg code and could be sued/held liable for damages, especially if that person gets sick from the mask. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, but look it up. I did and this is what I found after doing LOTS of research. IOW, folks, we’ve been handling this pandemic all wrong and there are numerous scientists, doctors, etc. who agree with this as we begin to discover the damage that has been caused.
My husband has over 50 yrs research as virologist/immunologist and worked for Public Health Dept of PA for many years. This agency advised the public on how to manage disease, epidemics, etc. My husband says it is well -known that these masks do NOT keep out viruses as holes in mask are too large for most if not all viruses, which are quite small. By wearing a mask you are keeping bacteria in the mask and are breathing it in. This can cause illness, especially if mask is worn more than about 20 minutes. Any virologist will tell you this. Surgeons wear these masks during surgery to keep them from infecting the patient they are performing surgery on. I’m just posting this for people to decide for themselves what they should do. I will also say that Public Health Dept. NEVER mandated any procedure, it was always up to the individual. It is against Nuremberg Code to mandate any medical procedures and masks are considered medical procedures. IOW, anyone mandating a mask is violating Nuremberg code and could be sued/held liable for damages, especially if that person gets sick from the mask. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, but look it up. I did and this is what I found after doing LOTS of research.