“if high risk be safe” shows how out of touch people are. If the DNC listened to high risk & disabled people they would implement mitigations like a mask mandate It is increasingly impossible to stay safe when there is such hostility towards people who mask in public

Many disability supports seem like luxuries to non-disabled people because...they don't have a disability! 🧵 If you *can* clean your house and get a cleaner, that is a luxury. If you *cannot* clean your house due to disability and get a cleaner, that's an essential support.

“I got Covid but it was worth it!” feels like the pinnacle of our misguided “you do you” approach to the pandemic. It’s airborne - it’s not just about YOU. Even if you’ve decided being sick was worth it - what about the unlucky people who cross your path & get infected 🧵/1

People who may not have attended an event, vacarion, concert or whatever high risk activity you felt was worth the risk? There’s many people in public for work or other unavoidable reasons. People not just having fun. You’re risking their health when you take no precautions. /2

If you use the DNC as example - people are proudly proclaiming that they knew the risk (though did they? Really?) and chose to attend anyways. I would argue that you can never truly understand the risk since no one “expects” to get Long Covid or die. /3

But even if we go along with their rationale and assume they knew the risk & felt it was worthwhile… what about the people who were working the event? Staff at the venue, people on public transit, working in nearby hotels or at the airport? People serving them food? /4

Did THOSE people consent to the risk? Of course not. Many of them are working minimum wage jobs that they need to survive - not attending “fun” events and then making light of catching a serious disease. They had NO choice or say in the matter. /5

Mitigations cost money. Many people can’t afford high quality respirators, air filters, nose sprays and mouthwashes (let alone expensive treatments like Paxlovid). It’s often those who can’t afford the best protection who are exposed the most. We don’t talk about that enough /6

It’s a rhetorical question - because of course it’s not fair. Yet it’s happening every day - and the reason is obvious. People are ONLY thinking about themselves. About whether a risk is “worth it”. About how much fun an event is versus the odds of becoming seriously ill /10

Some of the sickest Long Covid patients I’ve met were young and healthy when they became sick. Many had mild acute infections but then decompensated over the weeks & months that followed. The same could happen to you. The only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid Covid. /16

In Oct 2023, I was asked by the The BMJ to write a piece on decolonization. I said I'd focus on Gaza. They agreed. I was in daily touch with @GhassanAbuSitta as he relayed a genocide unfolding from the OR in Gaza. I wrote up his words & contextualized. BMJ refused to publish.

As we sort through all the war crimes that have happened at the CIJ_ICJ, we have to examine what impact the silencing of discourse around the unfolding genocide had and the silencing of healthcare workers around the world continues to have.

Imagine being mad at the UNICEF because they sent polio vaccines for Gaza’s children and forced Israel to let them in?? Uri’s enemy is children

I remarked that I need a “man prop” to come with me to the hospital & help demonstrate the need for HCWs to mask around me (and ensure I’m not gaslit). I loathe that this is necessary - but it IS necessary. You should always bring an advocate to the hospital. Here’s why 🧵/1

Here in England we were slightly ahead of the massive wave of Covid infections that has hit the USA. So we're already into the post-infection effects. And from the situations I have encountered this week, there's a glut of them with this wave. 🧵

My kid's teacher sent me this picture today from school. This is a 🧵about: football, masking, and belonging. Stick with me - especially those of you that work in education.

Educators, if you have a student who is still wearing a mask, they are now part of the "out group" (thank you public health leaders! s/) You can minimize that stress for them by slipping on a mask every now and then. You have no idea how much it would mean to them. 😷♥️😷

I’m begging people to understand that privilege plays a significant role in one’s ability to survive as a disabled person. In Canada - it also plays a role in whether or not you end up having euthanasia “suggested” to you as a treatment option. 🧵/1

Tonight my first grader said “but what is someone else gets hurt because I’ve taken the best hiding spot?” when we talked about active shooter drills and his priority to stay safe.

I’m chronically ill and I don’t work. I’m not on “vacation” and I’m not bored. I’m quite busy struggling to survive every day. I gave up most of my socializing and most of my hobbies. Not by choice. Because my body decided for me. Please don’t call me lucky or try to fill my time