Tootfinder

Was talking elsewhere about dentist safety trickiness and said this...
I really think it could be a goer for some dentist or other to allocate, say, one morning a month where they start the day super covid-careful, and only take appointments from people like us. Then the staff could test in the morning, and each patient could test when they arrive, and of course that cohort of patients wouldn't object to wearing proper masks in the waiting room.
Whoever developed this model would get customers from miles around.
The only thing which makes me doubt its viability is that it seems like all the dentists tend to be really busy already (or all the good ones, anyway), so the business incentive isn't as compelling as it might be.
#dentists #UK #masks #AirQuality #CovidIsntOver

"All schools in England to be given AI-generated pupil attendance targets"
Bad situation but I don't feel this article does a lot to help!
Yeah it's gonna be difficult to get back to "pre-pandemic levels" when covid is still making kids long-term sick, can we get a mention of that inconvenient fact.
No critique of the social pressure put on chronically-ill kids when attendance targets filter into the classroom.
How about a namecheck for (especially neurodivergent) kids' bad experiences of teach-to-the-test education, and the immense difficulty of getting funding for special needs support.
Not a lot on what the school staff are already doing to support kids or what govt could usefully put on more cash for, like good free breakfasts.
Includes some disrespect to non-school education along the way. (“We can only deliver opportunity for children in our country if they’re in school”, okay maybe it's true that _you_ can only "deliver" via school, because you don't know the alternatives, but shouldn't it actually be part of your job as Ed Sec to know them)
The delegating to so-called "AI" is the least of it!
#school #education #AttendanceTargets #neurodivergence #UKPol #CovidIsntOver

"Health officials are urging people to take extra precautions - including wearing a face mask if you have symptoms - as four winter viruses continue to circulate across the UK."
"If you have symptoms"? Nice start, but maybe also mention that covid is infectious _before_ symptoms! Or indeed _without_ any symptoms!
At least the person in the photo has a fitted(ish) mask and not a "baggy blue". Well done to whoever selected that. One little step in the right direction.
#CovidIsntOver #UK #UKHSA

... has a Linktree page:
#GreenParty #AirQuality #CovidIsntOver

Out of curiosity, I just watched the 3'39" video on the front of the Green Party web site, which turned out to be themed primarily on what it means to be "super rich". Really good video overall, I thought.
I especially wanted to highlight one phrase which stood out to me:
"Since the pandemic began".
A lot of people would have said "Since the pandemic" or "during the pandemic" - as if it were over now.
I'm thinking: _Someone_ on his team knows the difference. I'm not saying it's definitely ZP himself, I expect he takes input from colleagues on the speech-writing, but still. _Someone_ there knows the pandemic is still happening.
There's an allusion to air quality as well.
Thank you whoever that was!
#GreenParty #UKPol #CovidIsntOver

"After Saturday’s protest, the chair of the Metropolitan police federation said officers policing protests in London were “emotionally and physically exhausted”.
"Paula Dodds said: “Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests.”"
Well that's the government's fault for having completely unnecessarily created this conflict and brought the law into disrepute!
No wonder the police are "emotionally exhausted", when they have to keep on arresting peaceful old people like their grandparents, and being mocked for it! Not what any of them probably imagined their job was gonna be!
But this to me is the worst bit of news in that article:
"The planned new power follows protest-related measures in the crime and policing bill going through parliament, which bans the possession of face coverings ... at protests"
Planning to ban masks, in the time of covid. Denial or what.
I wonder if they've done an "impact assessment" for that bit of the law, because it certainly would disproportionately affect people disabled with Long Covid & similar things.
#UKLaw #masks #London #protests #Palestine #CovidIsntOver #KeirStarmer

I hereby recommend... this article featuring physicist and complexity scientist Professor @….
This'll be a useful piece for sharing with people who are puzzled about why covid is still important. One to bookmark.
#covid #health #stats #AirQuality #research #CovidIsntOver

Another stonker of a post from Julia Doubleday, who I'd say is possibly the leading writer of our time on the social aspects of covid & how we deal with it.
"The danger of COVID is its inherent danger, yes, but it’s also its relentlessness. It’s that when you get away with your 5th infection it’s coming right back for you a 6th time. A 6th time in year 6? And you’re a 6-year-old child?"
"What interests me about the “the lion does not concern himself” meme is the cracks it puts in the central fiction of the lies being told about Long COVID since 2022."
#covid #LongCovid #memory #cognition #brain #BrainFog #denial #CovidIsntOver #TheLionDoesNot

NHS in trouble this winter.
I keep thinking what a stonker of a false economy it is for the NHS to go "la la la, doesn't matter" about everyday covid infections.
Like has it not occurred to you that you're making more people ill? some of whom you then have to look after, some of whom are your staff who will then be unavailable?
How about some air filters in waiting rooms at least?
#NHS #covid #denial #CovidIsntOver

Liked this quote:
"reconsidering the idea that COVID is not only still here, but actively still dangerous, is a lot to ask when the alternative is the comfort of denial"
"a lot to ask when the alternative is the comfort of denial"
Nice mix of compassionate and pointy, on a key element of how I think the dynamic plays out.
There's a wise educator I know, who uses the expression "a heavy lift" to describe learning new ideas with big implications. I'm reminded of that.
#covid #politics #denial #CovidIsntOver

Wrote a thing on my blog, for the first time in ages.
It's some reflections on
• having caught covid three years ago
• that setting off dysautonomia / PoTS
• slowly mostly-recovering
• the social-misfit nature of not wanting to catch it again.
It's not that I think a lot of people will necessarily be interested in such a personal and relatively long post, but I wanted to write it anyway to mark the anniversary. And maybe it'll be useful/ companionable to some people in ways I can't predict.
#covid #LongCovid #memoir #CovidIsntOver

Yesterday I was enthusing to a friend about the "Breathe Easy" groups, and it's occurred to me I should enthuse here too!
"Do you enjoy going out and socialising, but feel cautious since the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you avoiding crowded and indoor venues? You are not alone! ...
"Breathe Easy Sheffield and Breathe Easy London are both small community groups hosting regular COVID-safer socials and other one-off events."
Recently I joined in for an online "watch the same event and then have a chat" with some folks from the Sheffield group, and enjoyed it. They also do in-person events about once a month, I just haven't been to one (yet) as it's out of town for me. Great to be able to swop useful info as well.

#BreatheEasy #CovidCareful #Sheffield #London #England #Masks4All #AirQuality #CovidIsntOver

This online magazine has an excellent 1-page article on air quality in Early Years settings. Why it's important, why it's advantageous for businesses to take seriously, what you can do. From Anne McConway.
(Caveat, I don't think the format will work for screen readers. It's one of those where they try to make it look like a paper magazine, with arrows to "turn pages". On the other hand, if the page could be printed out, it could work well for showing to colleagues.)
#AirQuality #EarlyYears #CleanAir #children #covid #CovidIsntOver

Read a thread earlier via XCancel: AJ Leonardi talking about Long Covid rates, and Mike Hoerger mentioning a forthcoming paper on cumulative excess mortality.
This phrase from Phil Oliver stuck in my mind:
"There is no evidence ‘short Covid’ exists."
Thread:
#covid #LongCovid #stats #CovidIsntOver