🇦🇺AUSTRALIA Weekly COVID Update: 28 March 2025

#COVID19Australia #COVIDisNotOVER #COVIDisAIRBORNE @auscovid19

Fantastic news! Long Covid research grants restored due to the efforts of advocates all over the country.

Never let anyone silence you or convince you that your voice doesn’t matter.

We all have power, and even those of us who are disabled can make a difference in our own way.

Speak up, demand accountability and work together. Change is possible!

https://thesicktimes.org/2025/03/28/update-recover-long-covid-pathobiology-grants-restored/

#uspoli #longcovid #nhs #hhs #covidisairborne #covidisnotover #chronicillness #disability

Some highlights from @ducky 's weekly roundup at https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2025/03/28/2025-03-28-general/

SARS-CoV-2 can interact with / activate the CD147 receptor to get into lymphocytes (T-cells and B-cells). (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2319417023000872)

women are 13.4 times more likely to get Long COVID if they are 🤰pregnant than if they are 🚫🤰not, with the danger highest if they catch COVID-19 in the third trimester. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937825001474)

the rate of cases of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has gone up more than fourteen times compared to pre-pandemic (https://academic.oup.com/ehjqcco/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ehjqcco/qcae111/7945206)

#CovidCompetent #AirborneAware #CovidIsNotOver #COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #pandemic #MaskUp #WearAMask #cleanAir

Hell, even if someone wants to wear a mask to avoid pollen (due to hayfever) that should be okay!

And it should definitely be okay to wear a mask to avoid a virus! (flu, Covid, etc)

No. Mask. Bans. Ever!

#NoMaskBan #Covid19 #LongCovid #CovidIsNotOver #Ableism #Eugenics #Disability

@auscovid19

#Covid #LongCovid #CovidIsNotOver
Reposting link for broader exposure, I hope you don't mind. Significant article. Regrettable 'prove you're human' gatekeeping, but worth surmounting the harassment.

"‘Something was wrong with my brain’: How covid leaves its mark on cognition"
https://archive.md/j28FD

Long Covid will cost the economy trillions of dollars. The economic devastation of a mass disabling event can not be overstated.

Yet more funding has been cut, including to a project that was nearing completion.

The reason? Its a “waste of time”

The only reason to believe this is because you don’t care about Covid, you certainly don’t care about Long Covid and you’re preparing to leave the chronically ill behind.

https://cen.acs.org/policy/research-funding/NIH-cancels-RECOVER-grants-long/103/web/2025/03

#longcovid #chronicillness #uspoli #disability #covidisnotover #covidisairborne

@auscovid19 Speaking from personal experience, the mental health case burden in college health at our local university has significantly worsened compared to 10-15 yrs ago, and it keeps getting worse every year since the beginning of the pandemic.

#LongCovid #CovidIsNotOver #COVID #COVID19

Press release for a new UK study:

"Nearly one in ten unsure if they have Long Covid. Almost 5% have the condition and socially disadvantaged groups are most affected"
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1076866

Free paper:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hex.70202

@longcovid
#LongCovid #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #LC #Covidlonghaulers #PostCovidSyndrome #longhaulers #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC

@covid19 #Coronavirus
#COVID19 #COVID #COVID_19 #COVIDー19 #SARSCoV2 @novid@chirp.social #novid @novid@a.gup.pe #CovidIsNotOver
@auscovid19 #auscovid19

Recording with:

- Dr David Joffe: an overview of biological basis of Long COVID

- Dr David Tuller: on basis of psycho-behavioural therapy focusing on the PACE trial & a major #LongCOVID trial"

https://youtu.be/V9f_kjlz6Ho

From latest Science for ME update

@longcovid
#PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #LC #PostCovidSyndrome #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC
@covid19 #Coronavirus
#SARSCoV2 #CovidIsNotOver
@auscovid19 #auscovid19
@mecfs
#MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MEcfs #CFS #PwME

Hey #WordNerds,
You know how 'unprecedented' needed a long spell in a good paddock after being absolutely flogged during the early years of the #COVID19Pandemic? (Reminder: #COVIDisNotOver)
I think the metaphorical use of 'journey' (esp. in health settings) needs a similar chance to recover.
What say you?

Press release:
Long COVID could be costing U.S. $2.0-$6.5 billion annually

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1077514

Paper (not open access):
https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiaf030/7972782

Comment: I think I have seen higher estimates. Still huge numbers

Hashtags:
@longcovid
#LongCovid #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #LC #Covidlonghaulers #PostCovidSyndrome #longhaulers #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC

@covid19 #Coronavirus
#COVID19 #COVID #COVID_19 #COVIDー19 #SARSCoV2 @novid@chirp.social #novid @novid@a.gup.pe #CovidIsNotOver
@auscovid19 #auscovid19

@auscovid19
@TRyanGregory

'Nobody could have foreseen this,' say the minimizers.

"Five times as many Australians are dying from Covid-19 as the flu five years after the outbreak of the global pandemic, shock new research has revealed."

#covid #CovidIsNotOver

The good news is SARS-CoV-2 and Long COVID research are advancing fast.

Luckily people are generously devoting time to roundups like these:

https://longcovidweekly.substack.com/p/long-covid-weekly-132-a-new-name

https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2025/03/15/2025-03-15-general/

#AirborneAware #CovidCompetent #SARSCoV2 #CovidIsNotOver #COVID #COVID19 #publicHealth #pandemic #LongCOVID

This is why respirators need to be mandatory in hospitals.

Babies, people with certain disabilities & some health conditions need others to mask to protect them.

This hospital shouldn’t be “scrambling”. Make masks mandatory & protect patients and staff.

Clean & ventilate the air too!

#measles #airborne #keepmasksinhealthcare #wearamask #texas #uspoli #covidisairborne #covidisnotover #chronicillness

It’s International Long Covid Awareness Day, and my latest article looks at the reasons why people believe they don’t know anyone with Long Covid.

We desperately need increased visibility into this debilitating chronic illness so that we can raise awareness and fund treatments, mitigations and cures.

Anyone can get Long Covid. It’s not limited to ‘only the vulnerable’ or those who had a severe initial infection.

This disease does not discriminate. Even people with asymptomatic initial infections have found themselves disabled by Long Covid.

It’s time we start processing the trauma of the pandemic and stop living in denial.

We are in the middle of a mass disabling event, and the longer it takes us to admit that, the more people will be harmed.

Let’s spread the word that the only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid getting Covid in the first place.

Wear a mask. Stay home when sick. Clean and ventilate the air.

When we all agree to care about the air we share, we can begin to bring about real change.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

#longcovid #longcovidawarenessday #covidisairborne #covidisnotover #sarscov2 #chronicillness #wearamask

#COVIDisnotover #wearamask #longcovidischronicmasksareiconic #cleantheair

I wrote a guest article for Healthy Debate that looks at why we need mandatory masks in healthcare, why surgical masks aren’t enough, and how the mounting threats to public health are putting lives at risk.

If you’re a healthcare worker, mask up.

Show us you take your oath to “do no harm” seriously

https://healthydebate.ca/2025/03/topic/wear-mask-plea-health-care-workers/

#covidisairborne #covidisnotover #longcovid #pandemic #publichealth #wearamask #n95 #measles #h5n1 #keepmasksinhealthcare #chronicillness #disability

You'd think people would want to know if there was a disease that killed more Americans than all our wars combined and is still killing, that causes long-term illness at yearly rates higher than all cancers combined, that all are at risk for, but that all could take actions to prevent. You'd think they want to protect themselves and their families. You'd think that this would be the #1 world priority. It is for me.

#CovidIsNotOver #LongCOVIDAwarenessDay #MaskUp #N95 #CleanTheAir

From Germany:

Clinical, histopathological, and radiological characterization of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19

https://oparu.uni-ulm.de/items/fc17b8f9-dfd3-456d-896e-bcfeafd10d4f

From the latest Science for ME weekly update

@longcovid
#LongCovid #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #LC #Covidlonghaulers #PostCovidSyndrome #longhaulers #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC

@covid19 #Coronavirus
#COVID19 #COVID #COVID_19 #COVIDー19 #SARSCoV2 @novid@chirp.social #novid @novid@a.gup.pe #CovidIsNotOver
@auscovid19 #auscovid19

How denial of airborne COVID transmission broke the world.

'The failure to initially recognize and later acknowledge the airborne spread of COVID-19, was the root cause of major shortcomings in the pandemic response.'

"Airborne mitigations would have greatly reduced viral transmission and therefore reduced evolution, that is to say the production of new variants."

#COVIDisAIRBORNE #COVIDisNotOVER @auscovid19

https://archive.md/ehzgB

Generally speaking, it's easy to differentiate the clout-chasing, performative activists who desperately want to be *seen* "doing good", from the real deal who do it just because they want to do good. The latter wear masks. #intersectionality #AntiAbleism #MaskUp #CovidIsNotOver

"Even if certain types of immune damage following COVID did turn out to be transient, which is another line of argument taken up by minimizers, how would we know in a world plagued by never-ending reinfections? If damage lasts 7 or 8 months, and a child is reinfected with the KP.2 variant in the summer and the XEC variant in the winter, when is that child ever healthy? This type of debate becomes academic in a world without mitigations; the body would barely have time to recover from one infection before the next would be on deck."

#Covid #CovidIsNotOver #LongCOVID #LongCovidKids #WearAMask

https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/kids-keep-getting-sicker-as-evidence

Pandemics change people. We aren’t used to dealing with the mass death, disability & uncertainty that comes with them.

Unfortunately due to technology & misinformation, society is choosing NOT to process its collective trauma.

Most people are firmly in denial about COVID, and many are grasping on to conspiracy theories and harmful rhetoric in order to return to their 2019 version of “normal”.

That denial is changing us. Refusing to deal with trauma has consequences.

We’re becoming more detached, reckless and apathetic.

There’s still time to change. It starts with acknowledging that the threat has not passed and we all need to do our part to protect our health & the health of those around us.

We have to begin to adapt so that we can heal.

#pandemic #publichealth #trauma #chronicillness #longcovid #COVIDisAirborne #covidisnotover

writing about a taboo topic yet again – why I choose my health (being covid cautious) over social ties – tldr being chronically ill is lonelier and more miserable than having no friends: https://winnielim.org/journal/choosing-health-over-social-ties/

also some meta commentary about how I'm used to writing about taboo topics but writing about covid cautiousness is the most uncomfortable of them all.

#blogging #writing #CovidIsNotOver

If we were to see immune damage manifesting at a population level, it would look like what we’re seeing today: big waves of common illnesses. Unusual spikes of uncommon illnesses. Course reversal for previously declining and eliminated illnesses. An unexplained, global wave of sickness.

How much more denial can the bodies of our children take? Are we going to force them to find out?

lots of citations demonstrating that damage and more at https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/kids-keep-getting-sicker-as-evidence

#AirborneAware #CovidCompetent #LongCOVID #CovidIsNotOver #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #immunity

wonder if there’s anyone who self-identifies as a covid-cautious blogger, or is there any blogger who writes on covid cautiousness?

#CovidIsNotOver

⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️ COVID is not over.

#COVID #LongCovid #CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #Vaccination

There is a huge auditorium full of people at this town hall and I don't see a single person besides me wearing a mask. Not cool.
Oh, wait, there's one other mask!
#EdMarkey #politics #USPol #MAPoli #CovidIsNotOver

Highlights of @ducky 's COVID-19 roundup https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2025/03/07/2025-03-07-general/ this week:

(2024-06-16)

ten people out of 27 had significant improvements after a stellate ganglion block: [...]

The other fifteen partially responded, and got another treatment — which meant that their data couldn’t honestly be used in this comparison [...]

The two who did not respond at all to treatment were two of the three people who only had smell/taste issues
https://www.autonomicneuroscience.com/article/S1566-0702(24)00049-3/fulltext

(2025-03-03)

air pollution and genetics both raise the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.

For each interquartile range–rise in air-pollution concentrations, the risks of COVID-19 infection were 96% higher for PM2.5 and PM10, 97% for NO2, and 98% for NOx.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421513122

(2025-02-28)

Asthmatics who got Paxlovid for COVID-19 infections were 35% less likely to be hospitalized than ones who got molnupiravir
https://respiratory-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12931-025-03156-2

#CovidIsNotOver #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #COVID #LC #LongCOVID

Prior to Covid it was normal to mask in the NICU. People understood that premature babies are as vulnerable as they come and need to protected.

Now? Gowns & gloves but no masking.

The damage caused by anti mask rhetoric will be felt for years (possibly decades) to come.

Mask mandates belong in healthcare. We should be providing free respirators at the door & cleaning and ventilating the air.

If you’re a healthcare worker who doesn’t think you need to mask, please read my plea on behalf of vulnerable patients:

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/a-plea-to-maskless-healthcare-workers

We know masks in healthcare stop the spread of airborne disease. We know they reduce the risk of hospital acquired COVID (which has a 10% mortality rate).

We know respirators work even better.

So why aren’t we masking? Why are patients having to bear the brunt of infection control?

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/we-need-mandatory-masking-in-healthcare

#covidisairborne #covidisnotover #longcovid #chronicillness #ableism #eugenics #keepmasksinhealthcare #disability

USA: 🇺🇸

🔹59% of Americans believe the COVID-19 pandemic is over, while 41% think it’s not."

🔹47% of U.S. adults said their lives are fully back to pre-pandemic normal, while 40% said they think life will never get back to normal."

🔹 "More than 7 in 10 U.S. adults, 72%, reported having contracted COVID-19 at some point since 2020, while 28% say they have never had it."

#COVIDisNotOVER #COVIDIsAirborne

Source: https://www.livenowfox.com/news/americans-say-covid-pandemic-over-5-years-later

@auscovid19

Never underestimate the power of wearing a mask. It’s a simple and safe act of compassion, resistance and self care.

Sick of being sick? Wear a mask.

Have a vulnerable loved one you want to protect? Wear a mask.

Work in healthcare and want to protect your patients? Wear a mask.

Want to fight fascists? Wear a mask.

Worried about low vaccination rates bringing back measles, polio and other eradicated diseases? Wear a mask.

Want to resist and keep your activism virus free? You guessed it, wear a mask.

When worn correctly, they’re highly effective. Trump and Vance are as anti-mask as they come, so we need as many people as possible masking in solidarity.

Let’s keep people healthy while normalizing them as an important tool in the fight against disease AND fascism.

#covidisairborne #covidisnotover #fascism #resist #wearamask #pandemic #publichealth #measles

There’s so much going on in the world that we can’t control.

The Covid pandemic gave way to rising fascism, just like the pandemics that have come before.

People are scared. Many lost loved ones. Society changed overnight. The loss of control that many felt allowed bad actors to rise up and capitalize on people’s fear.

No matter what our governments say or do, Covid isn’t over. It’s still killing and disabling people.

What’s worse, the pro infection crowd has become so loud and emboldened that vaccine uptake is down, masks are vilified and we’re seeing a resurgence of diseases like measles and tuberculosis.

Despite all the infectious disease threats out there, we still don’t have mandatory masks in healthcare.

The one place people absolutely can’t avoid, the place they should have a reasonable expectation of safety, has become one of the least safe public spaces.

Patients are being infected trying to access basic healthcare, because staff refuse to mask. Refuse to test. Refuse to isolate.

It’s eugenics, and we need people to realize it before it’s too late.

We need mandatory masks in healthcare. We must protect patients AND staff. We must protect even the ones who refuse to protect themselves.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/we-need-mandatory-masking-in-healthcare

#uspoli #pandemic #publichealth #fascism #masks #n95 #chronicillness #disability #ableism #eugenics #covidisairborne #covidisnotover

"Certainly the silent organ damage is a real problem, we think, for future development of disease. When you're young and healthy, you can take a certain amount of damage to the system without it showing up. [...] But as people age, their capacity to buffer against that particular set of damage might decline and we might see increased risk of other symptoms, particularly heart, lung, brain, emerging in people's fifties and sixties."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/543885/long-covid-warning-silent-organ-damage-is-a-real-problem

#CovidNZ
#CovidIsNotOver
#LongCovid

Help support Long COVID Recovery- Surgeries

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-my-surgeries-living-expenses

#MutualAid #COVID #Covid #CovidIsntOver #CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver

Woman, 36, almost passed out while walking. She was in heart failure due to COVID-19

https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/woman-details-myocarditis-covid-symptoms-rcna63476

on the one hand, i am extremely thankful that 1) she is recovering and 2) this made national news

but i am absolutely terrified that if she hadn't been a white woman, hadn't had good insurance, hadn't had the ability to take off work then we never would've known. and that means this has definitely happened to people who were not privileged enough to receive support to recover.

#Covid #CovidIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne #LongCovid #Disability

Patients have been bearing the brunt of infection control in hospitals, having to go to great lengths to protect themselves and their loved ones.

They’re unfairly judged, psychologized and mistreated for masking and/or requesting staff mask.

Covid is still here. It’s still killing and disabling people. We’re also seeing outbreaks of tuberculosis, measles and the worst flu season in over a decade.

Public health is being systematically dismantled and gagged by the Trump administration, allowing misinformation and disinformation to flourish and putting even more lives at risk.

Why don’t we have mandatory masking in healthcare? Why are we killing and disabling patients who go there for help? Who can’t ‘just stay home’?

The second article in my Masks in Healthcare series looks at patient stories, retaliation, and what we can do to make hospitals safer for everyone.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/we-need-mandatory-masking-in-healthcare

#covidisairborne #covidisnotover #longcovid #sarscov2 #chronicillness #healthcare #keepmasksinhealthcare #wearamask #ableism #eugenics #disability

New York confirms two cases of measles as RFK Jr does an about face on vaccinations.

After spending years spreading harmful anti-vaxx rhetoric and lies, he’s now tacitly recommending the MMR in the wake of the first child death of measles in a decade.

More outbreaks will continue to happen until people start vaccinating their kids again.

Measles is incredibly contagious, and it’s airborne. The average person goes on to infect approximately 9 others.

The disease was all but eradicated thanks to vaccination, and it’s on the rise again because of people like RFK Jr

The kids need us to protect them. They need the adults to make smart choices.

Also, wear a respirator! It’ll help protect from measles, covid, flu and more.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-reports-two-confirmed-cases-of-measles/6171176/

#measles #rfkjr #publichealth #airborne #wearamask #vaccines #hhs #COVIDisAirborne #covidisnotover

#CovidIsNotOver

RFK Jr finally recommends vaccination to deal with the measles outbreak hitting Texas right now.

This is quite the about face for a man who’s been spreading harmful anti-vaxx rhetoric for years.

Just a few days ago he was minimizing the outbreak by saying it was “normal” and recommending vitamin A.

What changed? Not going to lie… my initial thought was “it must be really bad if RFK Jr is pushing the vaccine”

Please folks, get your boosters. Wear a mask. Clean the air. Protect your health & the health of those around you.

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/03/kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-vaccine

#rfkjr #vaccines #measles #uspoli #hhs #publichealth #texas #wearamask #COVIDisAirborne #covidisnotover #disability