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I think the CDC — and governments in general — should be pushing *hard* for cleaner air, more paid sick leave, and masking whenever rates increase.
Oddly, while I disagree with the CDC’s recent recommendation, this CDC article seems very solid.
1/n
https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/background/index.html
I’d like to see this chart going back to 2015 or so. Would it tell the story “COVID isn’t causing more hospitalizations than the flu, but we’re now getting sick a whole hell of a lot often in general”? That's certainly the way it seems to me. :-(
2/n
"Although hospitalizations and deaths involving COVID-19 have declined substantially since 2022, rates of infections with the virus have not".
Chart shows COVID deaths high in 2020 through 2022, then dropping below 5,000 people dying per week -- while the rate of COVID infections stays pretty much at the same level from 2020 to today.
3/n
And get the latest COVID shot!
"COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of symptomatic disease and hospitalization by about 50% compared to people not up to date on vaccination. Over 95% of adults hospitalized in 2023-2024 due to COVID-19 had no record of receiving the latest vaccine. Treatment with nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) in persons at high risk of severe disease has been shown to decrease risk of hospitalization by 75% and death by 60%"
4/n
https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/background/index.html
"Ventilation and related strategies to improve indoor air quality can reduce infective viral particle concentrations in indoor air. In 2023, informed by accumulating evidence, CDC issued recommendations for using ...(MERV) 13 or greater and getting at least 5 air changes per hour of clean air in occupied spaces through air flow, filtration, or air treatment."
Get yourself an Aranet CO2 monitor to check your office, and the places you go! MAKE SOME NOISE!
5/n
This CO2 level of 1604ppm was at a dentist’s office. There was an air purifier in the room, but it had been unplugged. I decided not to take off my mask, nor wait around to see how much higher it would get.
If I hadn't been carrying a CO2 monitor (in a mesh bag, clipped to my purse), I wouldn't have known the air was bad.
A friend of a friend who masks everywhere except the dentist's, came down with COVID after an appointment there.
6/n
@unicorndeburgh I’m sure you’ve mentioned this before, but what monitor do you use? I’ve become really lax with mask-wearing at work because even the KN-95s (not just N-95s) stop my body temp regulation and I sweat uncontrollably/get kinda stinky…but I am 100% pro-mask. And I have an air purifier/fan at my desk.
I have the Aranet4.
@unicorndeburgh Thanks! I thought that might be it.
@unicorndeburgh So when I look at that link, there's a "home (2)" for $60, a home (4) for $150, and a pro(4) for $300... do you have a link to a product comparison? What do I get going from $60 to $150?
The "Aranet4 Home" is a small, standalone unit. I ended up buying 3 of them, and put one on each floor of my tall, skinny house in order to figure out what was going on with ventilation (it wasn't what I thought it would be!) I can see the values for all 3 of them in the app on my phone.
I don't know anything about the Aranet2, or the fancier PRO business systems.
I thought my air would be better in the summer, with the AC blowing it around and through a MERV-13 filter. However, the air return is on the 3rd floor and then the AC unit blows it back down through the house. I have to open windows on the 3rd floor to keep the CO2 below 1000pm.
In the winter, with no radiator heat, the warm air rises, no fan blows it back down, and CO2 stays below 700ppm.
@unicorndeburgh We're at the airport, and we're getting breakfast. To be sure it was reasonably safe, I pulled out my meter. I love having it with me. @marick
That's the way to go!
@unicorndeburgh Well, why should COVID infections go down? Nobody's wearing masks, indoor air quality isn't much improved, few people are getting the new vaccine, and the vaccines are better at preventing hospitalization than infection anyway.
Between natural immunity and the vaccines, people have enough immune response to (mostly) stay out of the hospital now, but not enough to fight off an infection.
@gpk I agree that as long as we're not doing anything to improve indoor air, or making it easier for people to take sick time, that the infection rate isn't going to go down.