We have discussed Covid at length with our doctor, and she is in 100% agreement that we are doing the right thing by trying to avoid covid infection. She is very happy our children are living an outdoor clean air lifestyle. Her words to us were "People just don't want to hear about how bad covid is"... "I am, seeing patients, children, with neurological problems post covid infection"
We are not worried about the one week illness during the initial infection. We are worried about the long term impact.
Covid spreads via people simply breathing out and another person breathing that same air in. Covid can hang in the air for over 12 hours in aerosols. An aerosol particle the size of 1μm or less takes 12.2 hours to fall to the ground from a height of 1.5m (5ft). The size of a SARS-CoV-2 particle ranges from 0.07 μm to 0.09 μm, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd9149. Aerosols act like smoke as shown here: https://twitter.com/abc730/status/1351447892607725568 meaning that even an empty room is not necessarily a safe room (e.g. an empty isle of a supermarket, or public toilets).
The majority of transmission is before symptoms.
In this study 32.4% of people didn't know that they had the virus when infected https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35891214/
This paper shows that 37% of children aged 0-4 years who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic but still had a high viral load https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/980195
This study showed that 59% of infections are via asymptomatic transmission https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707
Covid is not “just a cold” or "like the flu". It’s not even really a respiratory virus. It’s a vascular virus transmitted primarily by a respiratory route and can cause severe short and long term organ damage throughout a person's body.
Covid shrinks the brain,
It does so by drilling nano-tubes https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-virus-may-tunnel-through-nanotubes-from-nose-to-brain/
100% of these people examined by MRI had brain damage https://neurosciencenews.com/post-covid-brain-21904/
COVID fuses brain cells together; and it's permanent https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg2248 further explained here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-08/covid-19-can-cause-brain-fog-research-shows/102457290
This study detailing reduced brain grey matter showed " ...volume was significantly reduced in the acute phase. Gray matter thickness and subcortical nuclear volume injury were significantly associated with anxiety and cognitive function." https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812387
Multiple studies have shown cognitive impairment even after a mild initial infection.
A study of 1.28 million people, up to 2 years after Covid, w/ matched controls: "The persisting increased risk of post-COVID cognitive deficit, dementia, psychotic disorders, and epilepsy or seizures" and "similar during the delta and omicron waves" https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(22)00260-7/fulltext
In another study with sample size of about 300,000 people who had experienced mild acute Covid, 161,785 reported concentration/memory problems 1-6 months later & 149,618 of those people still reported that symptom 6-12 months later, with no evidence that symptom resolved https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1613319885379219457
Accelerated brain ageing https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-08-covid-infection-crucial-brain-regions.html
And another 2024 study https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-are/
And https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-reveals-main-sars-cov-brain-effects.html
And https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/covid-19-infections-increase-risk-of-long-term-brain-problems/
And yet another 2024 study https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-024-01740-7
And https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.22.24310790v2
And in children https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34414470/
And another 2024 example shoiwing that infection causes persistent cognitive damage. 34 healthy, young volunteers were inoculated and monitored for cognitive changes over a year. They showed lower cognitive scores, w/ significant differences in memory and executive function tasks https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00421-8/fulltext
This 2024 study where researchers found that individuals who had anosmia (the loss of smell) during COVID-19 showed alterations in brain functionality and even physical structure during recovery https://www.psypost.org/scientists-discover-troubling-brain-changes-in-covid-19-patients-who-lost-sense-of-smell
And in mice. When tested in mazes, the Covid infested mice just walked around the edges, like zombies https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-09410-7#Fig1:~:text=behavior%20in%20mice.-,Figure%201,-Administration%20of%20SARS (look closely at the S1 Protein open fields test)
Mounting evidence shows that COVID-19 impacts the brain, including significant drops in IQ scores https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-shows-that-covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-including-with-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-224216
This shocking 2024 study in The Lancet: Covid-19 linked to long-term IQ decline. Researchers find cognitive impacts persisting years after infection. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(24)00214-1/fulltext
And University of Oxford's 2024 Long-term cognitive and psychiatric effects of COVID-19 study revealed very concerning large drops in scores after infections https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-08-01-long-term-cognitive-and-psychiatric-effects-covid-19-revealed-new-study
This Massive Study released in 2024 Suggests Getting COVID Might Really Mess With People’s Mental Health https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2822342
An analysis of nearly one million Danish health records that found COVID-19 patients were more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, as well as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and bleeding in the brain https://news.ecu.edu/2022/08/04/covid-parkinsons-link/
Another study showed it increases risk of developing Alzheimer's by 50-80% in older adults https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220918/COVID-19-increases-risk-of-developing-Alzheimers-by-50-8025-in-older-adults.aspx.
This study of 500,000 Medical Records Links Viruses With Alzheimer's Again And Again https://www.sciencealert.com/study-of-500000-medical-records-links-viruses-with-alzheimers-again-and-again
The effects on the brain actually changes people's behaviour: "SARS-CoV-2 infection affects cognitive processes to induce ‘brain fog’ and results in behavioural changes that favour viral survival and propagation." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7845145/
In fact, a Covid infection makes a person more trusting of strangers, and therefore more sociable, helping to spread the virus. https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2116818119 meaning it has a toxoplasmosis effect.
Covid attacks the DNA in the heart https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/unlike-flu-covid-19-attacks-dna-in-the-heart-new-research-20220929-p5bm10.html
And Children’s hearts: 60% of children who recovered from asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic COVID-19 still exhibit mild subclinical systolic cardiac impairment https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/1/186
Covid ages arteries, even in young healthy people after a mild initial infection https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-mild-covid-effects-cardiovascular-health.html
The virus actually replicates inside the arterial tissue https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/sars-cov-2-infects-coronary-arteries-increases-plaque-inflammation "because the researchers found the virus infects and replicates in the arteries no matter the levels of plaque, the findings could have broader implications for anybody who gets COVID-19"
Everyone infected with COVID is at higher risk for heart issues—including clots, inflammation, and arrhythmia, and this is a risk that persists even in relatively healthy people long after the illness has passed. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/covid-and-the-heart-it-spares-no-one
Not only does a mild Covid infection cause vascular degeneration and arterial stiffness, but it also appears that both of these conditions are degenerative. "The longer the period from COVID-19 infection the worse the vascular impairment...." https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/6/2123
This shocking 2024 study reveals COVID's lasting impact on young adults College students show impaired blood flow and stiffer arteries months after infection. Blood pressure keeps rising over time. https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09646-w Next generations facing a cardiovascular crisis
Want to have a stroke when you are young? Get COVID. "Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of spontaneous carotid artery dissection has increased in young patients, despite the lack of risk factors." https://meridian.allenpress.com/thij/article/51/2/e248403/502236/Spontaneous-Right-Intrapetrous-Internal-Carotid
Covid causes blood clots. White Cells (monocytes) switch gene expression from an established innate immune profile to a pro-clotting signature in https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35638-y
And another study showing it causes micro blood clots in people's blood https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211004104134.htm
The British Heart Foundation put out a statement on how covid damages blood vessels https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/is-coronavirus-a-disease-of-the-blood-vessels
In fact, Covid is the only respiratory virus known to directly infect blood vessels https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/10/10/covi-o10.html
It affects lungs https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36173325/
In fact ALL kids have lung damage after covid. 60% air/bloodflow match vs normal of 80% https://www.rsna.org/news/2022/september/lasting-covid-damage
This 2022 study shows that Covid is associated with a 72% increase in Type 1 diabetes in Children: something which can be life threatening. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2796649
This 2024 study shows that it actually doubles the risk of children developing Type 1 diabetes https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2821151
This study of 1.2 million children in Germany showed that the risk of diabetes doubles https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2805461
And it increases the risk of diabetes in adults: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00912-y
46% of Covid patients have liver damage as shown in this study: https://m.timesofindia.com/city/mumbai/46-of-covid-patients-have-liver-damage-study/articleshow/97809200.cms
It has been itentified as directly causing hepatitis in children https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949928323000093
Covid Actively Infects And Kills Lymphoid Cells https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2022/04/14/sars-cov-2-actively-infects-and-kills-lymphoid-cells/?sh=3e00affd86b8
Covid damages the immune system, and studies show T-cells do not fully recover.
This study showed that they had not recovered at 7 months (when the study ended) .https://www.nature.com/articles/s41423-021-00728-2#Sec11
This study showed that they had not recovered at 8 months https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01113-x?s=09
And in this study: "we discovered that a subset of the naive T-cells from the healthy individuals were absent from the recovered individuals," https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1034159/full
And https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiad119/7143701?login=false
And in this study published in the renowned journal "Allergy", a MedUni Vienna research team shows that COVID-19 leads to considerable long-term changes in the immune system, even in mild cases https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/all.16210
And this is another study also showing that it can cause substantial long-term changes in the immune system https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-covid-can-trigger-changes-immune-system-may-underlie-persistent-symptoms
German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach: “It is worrying what we observe in people who have had several corona infections. Studies now show very clearly that those affected often have to deal with an incurable immune deficiency” https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Lauterbach-warnt-vor-unheilbarer-Immunschwaeche-durch-Corona-article23860527.html
This summarises it nicely: https://twitter.com/YouAreLobbyLud/status/1581093338169516034
In fact it has AIDS like properties as shown here: Deep Phenotyping of Neurologic Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection https://nn.neurology.org/content/10/4/e200097 and broken down in this explainer here: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1655308639937101824.htm
The Merck Manual also states that like HIV, Covid causes lymphocytopenia. “Patients with lymphocytopenia experience recurrent infections or develop infections with unusual organisms.” https://www.msdmanuals.com/professional/hematology-and-oncology/leukopenias/lymphocytopenia#Etiology_v970788
And this very important 2024 paper https://www.uftm.edu.br/ultimas-noticias/4982-pesquisa-da-uftm-sobre-covid-19-descreve-o-possivel-papel-do-virus-na-estimulacao-de-doenca-que-afeta-os-neuronios that describes the possible role of Covid in stimulating a disease that affects neurons triggering John Cunningham Virus (JCV) which is an AIDS defining condition. In the case of HIV, it takes years of infection before JCV becomes a problem. It would be terrible if the recent large increase of JCV were the early ones caused by something that started spreading *widely* in 2021. Read more about it here: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1818009411391995961.html
This 2024 Study in Brazil & Portugal found COVID-19 accelerates “immune aging,” increasing exhausted T cells in all cases within 7 days. This effect is unique to COVID-19, not seen in other infections. https://academic.oup.com/jleukbio/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jleuko/qiae180/7762057
Loss of T-cells raises the chance of cancer later in life as there are fewer T-cells to clean out pre cancerous cells. This study shows that it does in fact increase the risk of cancer https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.28722
This study describes the mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 could accelerate cancer growth https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300908423001360#abs0010
And this: "predispose recovered patients to cancer onset and accelerate cancer development." https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/9/7803# so reports of an explosion of cancer cases in young people may become more common.... oh... like this report ... https://www.newscientist.com/article/2366565-cancer-mystery-as-cases-rise-among-younger-people-around-the-world/
And this: “Our findings suggest that once T cells become exhausted, they remain fundamentally ‘wired’ to be exhausted—thus it may be hard to get them to become effective virus- and cancer-fighters again" https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/july/penn-medicine-discovery-clarifies-the-problem-of-t-cell-exhaustion#
Once infected, the virus will never leave. “Basically, it’s hard to get rid of viruses,” Prof. Diane Griffin. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-01/hidden-viruses-in-your-body-could-answer-why-long-covid-lingers?srnd=premium&leadSource=uverify%20wall
It persits in the tonsils https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.21.23284592v1
In fact, researchers have found traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus throughout the entire body, from the brain and the heart to the eyes https://newatlas.com/science/covid-autopsy-study-virus-brain-body/
It even gets into bone marrow https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.04.535604v1
And here is another study confirming that Covid persists in the, “brain stem, spinal cord, bone marrow, nasopharyngeal and hilar lymphoid tissue, cardiopulmonary tissues, gut wall and the spinal cord ” two years after infection https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adk3295
An infection does not make you immune from future infections: Multiple infections are possible https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230126/Childrene28099s-immune-systems-do-not-develop-e28098adaptivee28099-memory-to-protect-against-second-time-SARS-CoV-2-infection.aspx
Reinfection can happen very quickly as shown in this study: "Our findings indicate that the time between confirmed primary infections and reinfections with different Omicron subvariants is frequently shorter than the 90-day definition of reinfections used by the CDC. Furthermore, the time can be shorter than the 60-day definition of reinfections used by the ECDC." https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/11/22-1109_article
In fact, there is a documented case of a person being reinfected by different Omicron sublineages just 16 days apart https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42770-023-01018-x
Being infected to prevent yourself from being infected in the futures does not work. "Overall effectiveness of infection in preventing reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 variant was estimated at 1.8% and demonstrated rapid decline over time" https://academic.oup.com/jtm/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jtm/taae053/7642557
This study shows that over 90% of COVID-19 survivors had no neutralizing antibody activity at 10 months, implying that they had lost protection from reinfection https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-covid-can-trigger-changes-immune-system-may-underlie-persistent-symptoms
This study suggests reinfections have similar severity as an original infection. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2024/study-suggests-reinfections-virus-causes-covid-19-likely-have-similar-severity-original which goes against the "Hybrid Immunity" and "Every infection will be milder" proponents
Multiple infections doubles a person’s chance of dying and triples the likelihood of being hospitalised https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20221111/repeat-covid-infection-doubles-risk-of-death and https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/repeat-covid-19-infections-increase-risk-of-organ-failure-death/
The more times people are infected, the higher the chance of long term effects https://erictopol.substack.com/p/a-reinfection-red-flag shows that the risk of at least one long term health sequelae at 180 days increased from 135% after one infection, to 211% after two infections, and 300% after three infections.
In the US, about 7% of U.S. adults — nearly 18 million people — had suffered from long COVID as of according to a recent report in announced in June 2024 in JAMA Data Brief https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2819957
The WHO statement on long Covid/“post Covid condition” said:
“An estimated one in 10 infections results in post Covid condition suggesting that hundreds of millions of people will need longer term care”
Hundreds of millions of people.
Not one in 10 people.
One in 10 infections.
https://twitter.com/SMpwrgr/status/1651433967575515136
This study shows that children are at as much risk of long covid from reinfection as the are from primary infection https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(23)00311-6/fulltext. If approx. 10% get Long Covid with each reinfection, the cumulative chance of a child staying free of long covid is .90 ^ x, where x = number of infections. 5 infections = .9^5 = .59, meaning their chance of getting a long term condition after 5 infections is 41%. Or, risk of long term condition at each infection is:
1st infection 10%
2nd infection 19%
3rd infection 27.1%
4th infection 34.4%
5th infection 41%
6th infection 46.9%
7th infection 52.2%
8th infection 57%
9th infection 61.3%
10th infection 65.2%
In fact, this review of 31 studies reveals that 1 in 6 kids have persistent COVID symptoms for 3 months after infection https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-1-6-kids-have-persistent-covid-symptoms-3-months-after-infection
This comparative study showed that children faced a 78% higher risk of new-onset conditions after they had COVID-19 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.16966
Many children have ongoing post covid conditions https://healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Post-COVID-Conditions-in-Children-and-Teens.aspx#.YgF2gQH-qPZ.twitter as demonstrated in study after study such as https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/153/3/e2023062570/196606/Postacute-Sequelae-of-SARS-CoV-2-in-Children
"Millions of kids suffering from long COVID" https://www.cbsnews.com/video/millions-of-kids-suffering-from-long-covid-study-finds/
The American Academy of Pediatrics 2024 paper stated that up to 5.8 million kids have long COVID. https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/153/3/e2023062570/196606/Postacute-Sequelae-of-SARS-CoV-2-in-Children?autologincheck=redirected
Parents all over the world desperately looking for solutions for their kids with long covid https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352464222001547 - note the highest risk is in age group 0-3 years.
Many children die from it. It is a leading cause of death in children: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.23.22275458v4
It increases morbidity in children, as shown in this matched cohort study including more than 157,000 individuals with COVID-19 in Germany https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004122
Studies have reported the persistence of COVID in faecal samples from MIS-C children.https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230215/Delayed-presentation-of-MIS-C-following-COVID-19.aspx inferring that covid leads to MIS-C
Covid reactivates latent viruses https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.949787/full for example, shigles is on the rise and covid is throught to be the cause https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-21/shingles-cases-increasing-nsw-covid-rise/103600746
Women experiencing menopause and perimenopause appear to be more likely to experience serious complications from the virus https://www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/992853
We would like for our sons to be able to have children https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-022-00540-0
More links to a number of other studies showing that covid is bad news
https://twitter.com/jeffgilchrist/status/1573772566346567680
Specifically for children: https://twitter.com/GringoGranadino/status/1653866723886465025
Covid and the brain: https://twitter.com/GringoGranadino/status/1629861446241615872
A list of more scientific articles published in medical journals describing covid causing clots, embolisms, thrombosis, arrhythmias, strokes etc caused by covid https://twitter.com/GringoGranadino/status/1611234978137792512
Analysis of paediatric covid deaths https://twitter.com/greg_travis/status/1657388866486108161
Children and long covid https://twitter.com/GringoGranadino/status/1662689471173672960
At our childrens age, covid adds 30 years to their biological age. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8201243/
This short video succintly explains many of our concerns https://twitter.com/covid19nz/status/1670943608428539905
There is a very high risk of other unknown sequelae arising in the future
HIV to AIDS ~ takes an average of 12 years
HPV to cervical cancer ~ up to decades
Chicken pox to shingles ~ up to decades
Spanish Flu to encephalitis lethargica ~ temporal association suggests up to a decade
COVID to chronic diseases ~ can take just weeks, and who knows what issues it will cause in the future. As our doctor says “we just don't know”
AIDS starts with an initial "mild flu like illness". It is so mild that it took them years to work out that everyone that is HIV positive had a mild flu at the initial infection. Compare that to covid which regularly has a severe initial infection and multiple organ effects.
Acute covid has officially caused 30,000 deaths in Australia, and that is an understatement. If you look at the Australian excess deaths since the start of the pandemic they are at 50,000 excess deaths. Actuaries have explained these non-covid excess deaths as follows: "can be explained by patients who passed away from other illnesses within 90 days after being infected with COVID-19. In other words, COVID-19 aggravated existing illnesses, resulting in further mortalities." https://twitter.com/KarenCutter4/status/1571673953260933121
Covid has created more than 10 million orphans globally, and 3,000 in Australia (as at 2022, more now)
Life expectancy around the world is falling https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy?time=1980..latest
It shaved 2.6 years from life expectancy in India, and much more in some groups https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/data-covid-shaved-26-years-life-expectancy-much-more-some-groups-india (interesting to note that there is no MRNA vaccine in India - suggesting that it is the virus causing the issue, not the vaccine)
Germany's federal minister of health explicitly linked the decline in life expectancy to the impact of covid on the human body outside of the acute phase https://x.com/NateB_Panic/status/1704155264281084329 . He has also said " It's not a cold that you can safely catch every season. Rather, it affects the blood vessels or weakens the immune system, which means it often cannot be completely cured.” https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/maske-tragen-keine-weihnachtsfeiern-dringende-corona-warnung-von-lauterbach-86378224.bild.html
Kids all over Australia are so sick that Queensland has a 3 month shortfall of anti-biotics https://archive.md/sUOuS and NSW has totally run out https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/gps-asked-to-limit-antibiotic-scripts-due-to-unpre - maybe it because all of these kids immune systems have been destroyed by a virus that has obliterated their t-cells?
As parents, we need to stay healthy to support our children through their young years, teens, twenties. We need to avoid infection to look after them.
We are constantly looking for data that shows us to be wrong. We actually really, desperately, want to be wrong, but we aren't. We are following the science, the risk advisors to health insurance companies, the actuaries, and are watching how the billionaires clean the air at conferences like Davos and the International Economic Forum where attendees must have a negative PCR to attend https://forumspb.com/en/covid-19-safety-measures/
Our children have their whole lives before them. The actions we take now will impact them later in life.
We are living a healthy, outdoors focused lifestyle, and when we are indoors with other people we mask (with N95 or P2 respirator masks, not "blue leakers"), and no, masks do not starve us of oxygen, this study found no difference in blood oxygen levels and that was during moderate exercise among pregnant women https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4647822/ and you can also check this infographic that shows the size of Sars-Cov2 that the mask blocks compared to the oxygen molecules that the mask lets through https://x.com/quackduck314/status/1797490194628874402/photo/1
We also avoid outdoor crowds because there is plenty of examples of outdoor transmission such as the studies referenced in this document https://www.okdoomer.io/can-you-catch-covid-outside-yes-you-can/ and https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1813308655821025791.html as well as anecdotal examples like https://x.com/watinthe_/status/1784202140095029328 and https://x.com/dreamlion/status/1810847382982250931 and also from people that we know personally.
Studies have shown that children's immune systems develop best in nature. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220929-how-outdoor-play-boosts-kids-immune-systems, not by being exposed to a biohazard level 3 blood clotting diabetes causing brain shrinking immune system destroying airborne bat virus.
We are not “living in fear”. We are bravely facing reality and adapting. We are the most reality based people that we know. We are also the bravest people that we know. It takes strength and bravery to be the only masked people in a room. We are much braver than the people that know they "should" mask but don't because they are scared and just want to "fit in".
Thank you for your understanding. We wish things were different. We are dealing with the world how it is instead of how we wish it were. We know that the world has moved on and is pretending that the data is not real, but it seems that the data is real, and until we find evidence that it is not real, we will treat it as being real.
End/
The following is all speculation.
Why would the mass media and the government try to convince the public that the pandemic is over?
Covid is bad for business. More specifically, covid is bad for big business. And even more specifically, covid is bad for the biggest businesses on the planet (the types of businesses that have influence over the media narative and government policy via political donations).
Big oil was a massive loser during lockdowns. The oil price actually went negative https://www.macrotrends.net/2516/wti-crude-oil-prices-10-year-daily-chart/. Do you really think that the oil companies are going to allow that to happen again?
Their solution was to come up with the Great Barrington Declaration https://gbdeclaration.org/ which was funded by big oil
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrington_Declaration see sponsor section
This article is a must read about the Great Barrington Declaration https://www.levernews.com/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/
Big Oil, Big Business, and the corporate media have a massive financial incentive to minimize the public's perception on the risks around covid in order to defend their profits.
Raina MacIntyre, a highly respected professor that has lead epidemic field responses for WHO (bio: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-raina-macintyre) has suggested that it seems like our government is intentionally trying to infect children as per the Great Barrington Declaration https://twitter.com/Globalbiosec/status/1611813671981961219
The Queensland Health Minister even said that it is necessary to infect children https://twitter.com/ColinKinner/status/1557257474235076608
And later admitted that it was all based on "hope" of immunity and there was no science backing this up https://twitter.com/RageSheen/status/1615785004583510016
These political appointees make misleading statements such as
"Covid is like the flu" https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-17/long-covid-on-par-with-flu-in-highly-vaccinated-population/102230066 when such studies are "observational" and rely on self-reporting by text messages at the 12 week mark (after infection). No consideration for Long Covid. No mention of multi-organ involvement. No references to a scientific journal. No peer review. This survey that Gerrard used to make a media announcement that "Covid is like the flu" just relied on self reported "how did people feel" at 12 weeks post acute illness. This is totally flawed and irresponsible for a Chief Health Officer to promote. Statements like this are a perfect case of using facts selectively to minimize and deflect the real impact of this new illness.
This variant is "mild". A few decades ago the word "mild" was a sad tobacco industry marketing trick https://twitter.com/itosettiMD_MBA/status/1485316397429411840. Studies have shown that Omicron has been proven NOT to be intrinsically more mild https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiad236/7208626?login=false. And no, Covid will not automatically become milder over time as per the narrative promoted in the media. This study showed that Omicron BA.2 was associated with reporting more symptoms with greater disruption to daily activities than the earlier BA.1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34244-2. Virus only become milder over a very long length of time because the severe strains kill off their hosts, and get weeded out of existence with them. (Let that sink in).
Blaming the surge in RSV in children on "immunity debt" from lockdowns when there is is plenty of evidence that “immunity debt” isn’t real and that COVID infection puts kids at risk of worse outcomes from other pathogens. This study showed that previous COVID infection was associated with an increased risk of RSV requiring medical attention both for children 0-5 and specifically in infants 0-1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37292931/
It seems that the current Queensland Chief Health Officer, Gerrard, is doing the job that he was asked to do, and it also seems plausible that his predecessor, Dr Krispin, who was Qld Chief Health Officer for one day and then resigned, was asked to do the job but refused. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/shock-as-queensland-s-new-chief-health-officer-will-not-take-role-days-from-starting-20211028-p59424.html. It is interesting to speculate on what they asked him to do... maybe to encourage people to have their children infected with a virus that causes long term damage to their immune system, their blood vessels, heart, brain and every other organ in their body? To minimize the virus in order to protect the economy? to keep the donations coming from lobbyists? and to keep the pressure off from the Murdoch press? https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/murdoch-press-shows-media-bias-towards-liberal-covid-19-strategy,15297
This Time article is a great example of minimizing the dangers of covid in the public mind https://time.com/7000672/covid-19-brain-damage-older-people/
The headline includes the eye-catching caveat “especially for older people”.
The URL features the same reassuring wording https://time.com/7000672/covid-19-brain-damage-older-people/
The first sentence says “Covid-19 no longer poses the urgent public-health threat it once did”,
So for anyone that glances at the article to see if it is worthy of reading will think “Ahh, Covid is over except for old people.”
Well, if you read further the article proceeds to describe the damage that Covid does to the immune system, blood vessels, and the brain with sentences like “people in their 30s and 40s who have neurocognitive deficits that look like mild dementia.”
JFC!!! It is brain damage! In their 30’s!
The whole article might as well be summed up as “Hey covid gives you brain damage, but don't worry, carry on, everything is ok and normal because “Covid-19 no longer poses the urgent public-health threat it once did”, so keep going out there on airplanes to keep the travel industry going, keep sending your kids to school so you can go into the office for your company, and so they can pay the commercial property owners their rent. Everything is normal. Perhaps next will be, “In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it”
It would be awesome if the media reported that the surge in flu, whooping cough (up 7200% on last year) and RSV were due to the real culprit, Covid-19: a virus that destroys immune systems. Think about it. How does flu get around? (Hint: in bodies). How do those bodies battle the flu, rsv and whooping cough? (Hint: their immune system). What happens if the immune systems of those bodies are repeatedly infected with a virus that has been shown to harm immune systems? (Hint: other illnesses will spread more easily). The tragic result is that these kids will not make the age of 40, and that is horrific.
And of course, every diversion campaign needs a scapegoat, which may well be what is happening in the anti-vaccine campaign. The purpose of this page is not to debate the merits of vaccines but simply to point out that all of the debate about vaccines distracts from the threat of the virus. The anti-mrna campaigners never discuss the threat of the virus.
Watch the the politicians squirm when they are questioned about Covid. They can't answer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2rCtaBBdwE&t=130s
No thanks. The government is not going to infect our children, and there are many parents around the world that are also protecting theirs like https://x.com/CaliforniaCodes/status/1701331015149695128 and this school in Austin, Texas https://www.abrome.com/layers-of-protection/
We'll believe the scientists with papers in peer-reviewed journals.
We will watch the insurance companies and observe how they now ask for details on previous covid infections, like this Australian insurance company where Covid infection is treated like a pre-existing condition https://twitter.com/Greyhoundbob75/status/1733270142656880972. Note how they don’t ask about past colds or flu.
We will watch how the billionaires clean the air at the Davos World Economic Forum https://twitter.com/_CatintheHat/status/1616892071478009857
We watch how the mass media do things such as reporting that the pandemic is over when the WHO actually said that the emergency phase of the pandemic is over and in the same press conference explicitly said that the pandemic is NOT over https://twitter.com/PrognosticChats/status/1667605714091556866
We will watch and continue to look for evidence that we are wrong, because we really do want to be wrong, but until we can see evidence showing that we are wrong we will remain covid cautious, and we will not just believe what Rupert Murdoch and Co. want us to believe.
The people that are manufacturing consent for mass infection in order to defend their financial interests are very clever, and very well resourced.
This is a thought provoking article that discusses what the world would look if the government were trying to cover up a ongoing pandemic in order to protect established businesses https://www.normalcyfugitive.com/p/the-pandemic-isnt-over. It seems frighteningly similar to what is happening right now. The people that are manufacturing the reality that the pandemic is over in order to protect establisted business systems are very good at what they do:
Most people have accepted the narrative that covid is over, and because of that we sometimes feel like we are crazy, but we are not. Peer-reviewed science is our rock. We sometimes wish we were ignorant and live in bliss, but unfortunately we have seen all of this peer reviewed science, and we cannot unsee it. We are informed and are facing reality.
Social conformity is the most powerful of all forces known to humankind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-asch-conformity-experiments-2794996 It is difficult to go against the crowd and overcome the pressure to conform. It is difficult to not be like everyone else and pretend that there is no pandemic and that our children's health is bulletproof. We feel the pressure of friends and family that think we are scared and weird.
We are not choosing fantasy land and denial, we are instead choosing science and reality. We are choosing the difficult, reality based route.
We are doing this: https://x.com/isolatingcmnty/status/1813906155208622320
Instead of this: https://x.com/TheVertlartnic/status/1647572508508319746
While society is in mass ignorance and denial and does this:
https://jessicawildfire.substack.com/p/you-may-be-early-but-youre-not-wrong
https://www.okdoomer.io/youre-not-a-fearmonger-you-have-sentinel-intelligence/
We are applying the precautionary principle until we can find evidence that it is ok to be infected by this virus, and even if we turn out to be wrong and this virus turns out to be a benign nothing-burger, based on what we know right now based in the information that we have available to us right now, applying the precautionary principle is absolutely the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than ensuring that our children receive the gift of health. To do otherwise would be fucking stupid.
Proactive mitigation of a biological threat like covid is, of course, particularly important when asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission is common.
So if you are a family member of ours that has been critical of our cautiousness, rest assured that we will willingly relax our precautions if you can provide evidence that we should.
And as a final word or reassurance, no it is not forever, just until better, more effective vaccines come along, like this Nasal vaccine halts transmission and will (hopefully) be available within a few years: "Vaccinated hamsters that developed infections did not pass the virus on to others, breaking the cycle of transmission” https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/nasal-covid-19-vaccine-halts-transmission/