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luckytran

@luckytran@med-mastodon.com

📢 Scientist and organizer working in public health, climate justice, and science communication

🎓 Columbia, Cornell, Cambridge, Adelaide

➡️ Contact/Links: https://linktr.ee/luckytran

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

luckytran , to random
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While Republicans are responsible for mask bans, the Biden White House is also complicit.

They prematurely told the public to unmask in 2021, they encouraged governors to repeal mask mandates, they said states should decide mask policies, they forced workers back into offices.

luckytran OP ,
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The Biden White House has refused to consistently stand up for public health. The result is ceding power to Republicans at state and local level, who are exploiting a weak White House to pass reckless anti-public health policies like mask bans that put everyone’s health at risk.

luckytran , to random
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Republicans complained about government overreach at the start of the pandemic. Yet they are now justifying the use of legislative power in order to ban wearing a mask for health reasons. What an absolute farce.

luckytran , to random
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Republicans are trying to take away and criminalize the right to make decisions around our own health, whether that’s the right to wear a mask or the right to have an abortion. Unacceptable.

https://www.wral.com/amp/21433199/

luckytran , to random
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"The Raw Milk Institute called the warnings "clearly fearmongering." The institute's founder told the LATimes his customers are specifically requesting raw milk from H5N1-infected cows."

This is an example of how minimizing COVID is destructive to public health far beyond COVID.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/anti-pasteurization-crowd-reaffirms-love-of-raw-milk-despite-bird-flu-outbreak/

Yet, raw milk enthusiasts are undaunted by the heightened risk. The California-based Raw Milk Institute called the warnings "clearly fearmongering." The institute's founder, Mark McAfee, told the Los Angeles Times this weekend that his customers are, in fact, specifically requesting raw milk from H5N1-infected cows. According to McAfee, his customers believe, without evidence, that directly drinking high levels of the avian influenza virus will give them immunity to the deadly pathogen.

luckytran , to random
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"Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago."

This is why we can't have nice things.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/raw-milk-sales-spike-despite-cdcs-warnings-of-risk-associated-with-bird-flu

Raw milk sales spike despite CDC’s warnings of risk associated with bird flu Sales of raw milk appear to be on the rise, despite years of warnings about the health risks of drinking the unpasteurized products — and an outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows. Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago, according to the market research firm NielsenIQ. That runs counter to advice from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls raw milk one of the “riskiest” foods people can consume.
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    • luckytran , to random
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    And sometimes we pause to watch the universe in awe….

    Northern lights in New York 🌌

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    luckytran , to random
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    Aurora borealis starting to faintly show in New York as clouds part. Not yet easily visible by the naked eye.

    luckytran , to random
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    This North Carolina bill is ridiculous. It justifies punishing protestors for blocking emergency vehicles, yet bans wearing masks for health reasons. This bill is dangerously anti-public health and restricts people's ability to protest and exercise their First Amendment rights.

    HOUSE BILL 237: Unmasking Mobs and Criminals. OVERVIEW: The Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) for House Bill 237 would do the following: • Repeal the health and safety exemption from certain laws prohibiting the wearing of masks in public. • Enhance the criminal punishment if the defendant wears a mask to conceal the defendant's identity during the commission of another crime. • Prevent the executive branch or local governments from distinguishing between religious institutions and other entities during an emergency. • Impose criminal and civil liability on individuals who obstruct emergency vehicles during demonstrations.
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    • luckytran OP ,
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    Senator Buck Newton, who presented North Carolina's anti-mask bill that also penalizes protestors blocking traffic, says people "do not have the right to risk people’s health and safety." Shameless hypocrisy. Removing the right to wear a mask increases health risks for everyone.

    Newton said that lawmakers want to preserve the First Amendment rights of people to demonstrate, but added that protesters need to do so in an orderly way, and that it’s unacceptable for people to block ambulances, fire trucks, or other emergency vehicles. “The folks that want to express their frustration about a particular issue, certainly have the right to do that,” Newton said. “They do not have the right to risk people’s health and safety.”
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    • luckytran OP ,
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    What is also ridiculous is that the North Carolina anti-mask bill would ban people from wearing a mask for health reasons, but allows mask wearing for holiday costumes, work, theatrical productions, and parades.

    The bill leaves in place a number of other exemptions, including provisions that allow public masking for people who are: ▪ Wearing “traditional holiday costumes in season;” ▪ “Engaged in trades and employment where a mask is worn for the purpose of ensuring the physical safety of the wearer, or because of the nature of the occupation, trade or profession;” ▪ “Using masks in theatrical productions including use in Mardi Gras celebrations and masquerade balls;” ▪ Members of any societies, orders, or organizations engaged in any parades, rituals, initiations, ceremonies, celebrations or other required events, who have obtained permission from local authorities.
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    • luckytran OP ,
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    Sources:
    https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/87380
    https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article288384990.html

    luckytran , to random
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    Last week, the requirement for US hospitals to report key COVID data to the federal government ended.

    But there's a proposed HHS/CMS rule that would change this, and require hospitals to report key COVID, flu, and RSV hospitalization data outside of public health emergencies.

    Hospital and CAH Data Reporting CMS is proposing to update the hospital and CAH infection prevention and control and antibiotic stewardship programs' Conditions of Participation (CoPs) to extend a subset of the current COVID-19 and influenza data reporting requirements. This approach will balance the need for robust and accurate data for virus surveillance with the burden that this can place on facilities and their staff. CMS continues to believe that sustained data collection and reporting of respiratory illnesses outside of emergencies will help hospitals and CAHs gain important insights related to their evolving infection control needs. Specifically, CMS is proposing to replace the COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza reporting standards for hospitals and CAHs with a new standard that will address acute respiratory illnesses. This new standard would require that beginning on October 1, 2024, hospitals and CAHs would have to electronically report certain data elements about COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The proposed information for which reporting would be required includes confirmed infections of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, among hospitalized patients; hospital bed census and capacity; and limited patient demographic information, including age. CMS is proposing that, outside of a public health emergency (PHE), hospitals and CAHs would have to report these data on a weekly basis.
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    • luckytran OP ,
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    If passed, the new respiratory reporting requirements for hospitals would take effect October 1st.

    We absolutely need it to keep track of the ongoing COVID pandemic and monitor potential pandemics like bird flu.

    Please submit a public comment in support: https://federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/02/2024-07567/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-and-the-childrens-health-insurance-program-hospital-inpatient#open-comment

    luckytran , to random
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    We don’t talk about it enough but it’s a huge failure that there isn’t more urgency to develop better COVID vaccines.

    An Operation Warp Speed for nasal vaccines and more variant proof vaccines would transform our ability to deal with COVID and help us mitigate future pandemics.

    luckytran OP ,
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    The current COVID vaccines have reduced deaths but governments are in denial that there’s still a too many deaths, too many getting Long COVID, & too many locked out of society. Better COVID vaccines (with treatments & other public health layers) would make a huge difference!

    luckytran OP ,
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    Governments are failing to value technology development in preventing and mitigating future pandemics.

    mRNA vaccine technology was developed decades before COVID and this made a critical difference.

    New nasal and variant proof vaccine tech will be needed for future pandemics.

    luckytran OP ,
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    With future pandemic threats like bird flu showing alarming signs right now, it’s dangerous that governments are not showing enough urgency to develop new and better vaccine technologies.

    luckytran OP ,
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    Sadly, thanks to capitalism, governments have prematurely declared mission accomplished on COVID.

    But the job isn’t done. We need to develop better vaccines to meaningfully address the ongoing harm that COVID is continuing to cause, and to prevent and mitigate future pandemics.

    luckytran , to random
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    Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

    May 1, 1970 500 students at Kent State University gather to protest. May 2, 1970 As President Nixon describes the students as "bums" "blowing Tuning up the boo the Mayor of Kent calls in the Ohio National Guard. They use tear gas and bayonets to disperse approximately 1,000 student protesters. May 3, 1970 Ohio Governor Rhodes calls student protesters "the worst type of people that we harbor in America." Meanwhile, Kent State administrators issue a protest ban. May 4, 1970 Students defy the protest ban. A crowd of 3,000 gathers on campus. At 12:24 pm, the National Guard opens fire, killing 4 students and injuring 9.
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    • luckytran , to random
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    It appears that some universities are banning masks of any kind at sites where they are holding their graduation ceremony. This is ableist, exclusionary, and completely unacceptable.

    (Photo: Dr. Mary Donegan)

    Sign at UCONN listing prohibited items which includes masks of any kind

    luckytran , to random
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    The whole point of protest is to disrupt. Oppression is never overcome by asking politely for your oppressors to stop.

    luckytran , (edited ) to random
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    COVID killed people in prisons at disproportionately higher rates, and has been the leading cause of US police deaths over the last few years. Yet, police officers are ripping masks off protestors.

    luckytran OP ,
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    The Guardian - US prison deaths soared by 77% during height of Covid-19 crisis, study finds

    Analysis of in-custody deaths show mortality rates were more than three times the increase in general population in 2020

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/03/us-prison-deaths-covid-19-study

    luckytran OP ,
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    The Guardian - Covid was top line-of-duty death for US police for third year running in 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/covid-police-top-line-of-duty-death-usa-2022

    luckytran , to random
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    Light projection on Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall tonight

    luckytran , to random
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    Timely reminder that historically, has been a day of protest and upholding the right to protest. It says a lot that May Day isn't officially recognized in the U.S.

    luckytran , to random
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    Today is the last day U.S. hospitals will be required to report COVID admissions, capacity, or occupancy data to the federal government.

    This will make it even more difficult to track the state of the ongoing COVID pandemic, as well as monitor potential pandemics like bird flu.

    Source: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/29/hospital-reporting-covid-flu-rsv

    Axios: Hospitals starting this week will no longer have to report data on admissions, occupancy and other indicators of possible system stress from respiratory diseases to federal officials as another COVID-era mandate expires. Why it matters: The sunset of the reporting requirement on May 1 marks a turning point in the government's real-time tracking of airborne pathogens that helped drive coronavirus surveillance and reports like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's FluView.
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    • + Xenograg
    luckytran , to random
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    Love this! Fund science, not genocide.

    luckytran , to random
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    Social movements are like seeds. If you try to bury them, they will grow.

    luckytran , to random
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    Some COVID conscious people are worried about mask bans because protestors are wearing them. That's understandable, but (a) they are wearing them to mitigate COVID spread, and (b) even if COVID didn't exist, they should have the right to wear them to protect against surveillance.

    luckytran OP ,
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    There are many valid reasons for wearing a mask. We don't restrict people from wearing glasses or sunglasses based on the reason why they are wearing them. We should be pushing governments to pass laws that protect everyone's right to wear a mask, no matter what the reason.

    luckytran , to random
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    It isn't a coincidence that more protestors are wearing high quality KN95 or N95 masks these days. For years COVID safe advocates and mask blocs, who are connected to diverse organizing groups, have worked hard to educate allies and provide communities with free respirator masks.

    luckytran , to random
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    when a picture says a thousand words

    luckytran OP ,
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    source: https://twitter.com/thepurplepill9/status/1783219863999181285

    luckytran , to random
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    Why are so many protestors wearing masks?

    Yes it's to protect against facial recognition and doxxing, but it's also to keep communities safe from COVID.

    As an organizer puts it: "we deny the Biden administration’s narrative about COVID — that it’s no longer a big deal."

    But that gradual return to barefaced life never reached left-leaning protests, where face masks are widely used and encouraged. Part of the reason, say organizers, remains an attempt to make a point about exposure to COVID-19 and other health risks, which some in the left-wing protest movements believe remain dire. And part is the threat of a different kind of exposure — from being captured by facial recognition technology or becoming doxxed (their personal information being shared online) by counter-protesters. “To us, the optics are communicating that we deny the Biden administration’s narrative about COVID — that it’s no longer a big deal,” said Olan Mijana, a spokesman for the March on DNC 2024 coalition. “It’s about collective safety, and it’s also about connecting this COVID neglect to the very issues that we’re marching on the DNC for.”
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    • luckytran OP ,
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    Source: https://www.semafor.com/article/04/23/2024/the-rise-of-the-masked-israel-gaza-protester

    luckytran , to random
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    People love to applaud civil rights, anti-war, and anti-apartheid protests of the past, and say that they can't believe that people opposed them back then. Yet at the same time they see no problem attacking people protesting for human rights and social justice today.

    luckytran , to random
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    Every person has the right to wear a mask.

    There are many good reasons for doing so: COVID, airborne pathogens, sickness, privacy, surveillance, allergies, work etc.

    No one should ever have to explain or justify why they are wearing a mask — that’s none of your business.

    luckytran OP ,
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    No one should ever be harassed or attacked for wearing a mask and businesses should never prohibit employees from wearing a mask to protect themselves.

    For public health, workers' rights, and human rights reasons, governments should implement laws that protect everyone's right to wear a mask.

    luckytran , to random
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    Hey governments, if you are completely ignoring the current pandemic, how the heck can we trust y'all to prevent the next one?

    luckytran , to random
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    “People have gone back to coughing into their hands and then shaking hands with other people. Mask-wearing has disappeared. We are going back to our old bad habits. We may come to regret that.”

    Reminder: One of the best ways to prevent the next pandemic is to stop being in denial about the one that is ongoing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/20/next-pandemic-likely-to-be-caused-by-flu-virus-scientists-warn

    luckytran , to random
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    The rewrite of the Last of Us Season 2 is wild https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cicadas-zombies-hyper-sexual-sexually-transmitted-fungus-expected-to-emerge-this-year-massospora-cicadina/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=386674874

    luckytran , to random
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    umm, thanks for warning us I guess

    luckytran , to random
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    Government data shows an alarming increase in long-term sickness in the UK.

    Conservative media like the Spectator are lying and blaming it on lockdowns from 4 years ago.

    Yet mainstream media is in denial and refusing to point to the obvious connection with COVID and Long COVID.

    luckytran , to random
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    Good news: The world is making progress on climate change.

    Bad news: We are still far off where we need to be.

    Scientists say that the impacts of climate change at 2.7 degrees are significantly worse than 1.5 degrees.

    Every bit of warming matters. We need to do so much more!

    luckytran OP ,
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    Source: https://ciphernews.com/articles/how-we-know-the-energy-transition-is-here/

    luckytran , to random
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    Mass protest is foundational to democracy. This must not be allowed to stand. https://www.vox.com/scotus/24080080/supreme-court-mckesson-doe-first-amendment-protest-black-lives-matter

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