"Buying HEPA filters and maintaining them is *too hard.* how about you just get sick all the time instead? It's good for you, actually!"

"Dr David Teachey, from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said: “Although most children with Covid-19 do not have severe disease, our study shows that there may be other effects of SARS-CoV-2 that are worthy of investigation."

"Blood vessels are channels that carry essential nutrients, like oxygen, to all the organs in the body. They also carry waste products away."

"In the brain, damage to vessels could lead to inflammation, while in the limbs, reduced blood flow could lead to ‘Covid toe’, it added."

"The rare side effect of Covid can affect people of any age, although reports suggest children and teens suffer more that adults."

"Dr David, added: "We should continue testing for and monitoring children with SARS-CoV-2 so that we can better understand how the virus affects them in both the short and long term.”

Here is the link to the original study [the article above was also first published a little more than several months ago]:

New zine that's free for anyone to print and distribute! Read the whole thing at newlevant.com/COVIDzine or in the rest of this post.

UPDATE 4/11/2023:

I swapped out the colloidal silver nasal spray info for xylitol nasal spray info. I originally included colloidal silver spray because of the linked study and recommendation from RTHM, but I don't want to be pointing people toward something with notable health risks. Xylitol spray (Xlear) is also cheaper and more widely available!

The problem with "you can choose to wear a mask or not," is that masks mostly protect other people. So if you choose not to mask, you're actually removing someone's ability to try to protect themselves.

We know that if you wear a mask it does protect you, but only marginally. In the end, it's everyone wearing masks that prevents the spread of covid from one person to another. This is because if you have covid the mask catches the viral particles you are exhaling before they can get into the air, where covid is airborne and hangs in the air like smoke for several hours.

People who are masking are mostly protecting you. If you're in the presence of someone wearing a mask, it's literally common courteousy to do the same.

If you're waiting for public officials to tell you that covid is in fact still here and that you should in fact still be masking & regularly getting tested, it would already be too late by then. I need more people to let it sink in that the US government's first and (probably only) priority is the economy, as opposed to being honest about covid.

Rich people and government officials like the PotUS are still making it mandatory to mask when interacting with them.

Rich people and government officials like the PotUS get PCR tested and make it mandatory for everyone to do the same before interacting with them.

Rich people and government officials like the PotUS are making it mandatory to make sure everywhere they go has filtered, clean air.

They are protecting themselves and still taking precautions during this on-going pandemic while lying to our faces that the pandemic is over. They may be maskless on camera, but they're sure as fuck rushing to get tested after the fact.

If you're waiting for these people to be honest with you about covid & to tell you how to protect yourself, it would already be too late by then.

Really sick of people calling masking during an ongoing pandemic "antisocial behavior" when the actual things that are defined that way are almost all utter disregard for others and their safety. Why do you think me keeping me AND you safe is antisocial?

Going barefaced during an ongoing airborne pandemic is legit antisocial behavior.

I like fun unreality mass pretenses, like Goncharov, and not those unfun unreality mass pretenses, like pretending COVID is over and/or "mild".

do you have advice on how to find a mask for someone who legit, for real has difficulty breathing through one? i get badly congested because of the build up of humidity/moisture (plus a deviated septum), so then i have to remove the mask to blow my nose every 10 seconds which obvi defeats the purpose. i've tried to do research but i'm having trouble finding answers to this specific query. since you seem knowledgeable i would really appreciate any pointers if you have them. thank you.

hi! first of all thank you so much for wanting to mask despite the difficulties. second, i want to mention that im not a science or medical-type person of any kind, just a high-risk civilian trying to stay alive through the ongoing pandemic.

with the widespread non-industrial use of respirators in dealing with covid, there are manufacturers that have been looking for more comfortable, casual options while still offering adequate filtration. however many of these kinds of masks are either quite expensive, perpetually hard to acquire/sold out, or aren't fully NIOSH-approved (or equivalent standard). so my recommendations will be for only NIOSH-approved headstrap N95s.

since you have a structural condition (deviated septum), finding a breathable mask that fits your face without agitating your sinuses is essential. you'll want to be sure it's large enough that it's not pinching or putting too much pressure on your nose bridge. some users in the Masks4All subreddit have said saline rinses and BreatheRight strips can alleviate congestion issues, along with the right kind of mask. exploring a variety of mask shapes may help you!

finding a well-fitting respirator is difficult because there is no "one size fits all", but the 3M Aura 9205+ comes close! it's available in many areas and fits a wide range of faces. this is the mask i use. the "tri-fold" shape allows me to talk or laugh without compromising the seal or brushing against my face, compared to a typical "cup" shape N95. they also come individually wrapped, so it's easy to keep one in your car or bag, or distribute to others.

according to many who are "still coviding", the most breathable masks are the "duckbill" shape like the Gerson 3230+. I personally haven't tried them myself as I'm put off by the shape, but many duckbill wearers say that they easily overcome this "flinch" once they feel how comfortable it is, and that it's their go-to mask for extended wear or strenuous activities like the gym.

a more standard shape said to be close to the comfort of the duckbill is the 3M 9105 VFlex. It still has a larger silhouette than the Aura, but the duckbill look is less pronounced. "bi-fold" mask shapes like the BNX N95 can also put less pressure on your nose and allow more breathing room while keeping a slimmer profile.

you can also try something like the Readimask, a strapless mask that adheres to your face with medical adhesive (think like a band-aid). these can be a little more expensive, but you can order a free sample pack for sizing purposes (free plus shipping, mine was only $5 in the US) and see if it works for you.

if you feel that the humidity/moisture is more of an issue than your septum, you may also want to look into valved masks, but be warned: masks with an exhaust valve only protect the wearer, and not the people around you. reserve these only for situations where you will be one-way masking. particles cannot enter through the valve, but particles you exhale exit into the ambient air. however, if you are in a situation where you find you are the only person masking and everyone else is breathing unfiltered air anyway, a mask with an exhaust valve is fine. reusable elastomeric respirators often have exhaust valves, but there are disposable versions too, like the 3M Aura 9211+ above.

"mask nerd" Aaron Collins has a full demonstration and overview of many of these masks in his most recent video. He also discusses earloop masks if you prefer those:

you can also view AccuMed's Mask Testing Data and sort by lowest to highest breathability (lower numbers indicate the pressure drop = better breathing). This doesn't have every mask on the market (for instance, it's missing the VFlex), but it does have many common brands/models. Aaron Collins also made his own spreadsheet of over 200 masks he fit-tested himself.

i hope this gives you a launchpad to find something that works for you!

In case you don't follow wastewater collection or covid testing blogs, I'm letting you know we're in the throes of a new surge. Coupled with the news of China & France dealing with a new strain of childhood pneumonia, I think it's safe to say... I told you so.

Covid isn't over.

Wear a mask.

Get your boosters.

Get your flu shot.

Stay home unless you absolutely have to go out.

"If a pig catches both a human influenza A virus and an avian influenza A virus at the same time, it can spark a process known as viral reassortment — a genetic exchange in which flu viruses swap gene segments." "Those swaps can introduce dramatic changes, producing a new virus with certain properties of a non-human strain coupled with the capacity to infect and spread between people." "The death rate in humans may be upwards of 50 per cent, World Health Organization data suggests, though it's possible that milder infections are getting missed, skewing the case fatality ratio. Still, in a population that's never been exposed, the global impacts could be dire." "More human cases could also be happening under the radar among farm workers who've moved to the U.S. from abroad, don't speak English as their first language, and may be hesitant to seek medical help, he added." "So I think there's probably underreporting on both sides," Armstrong said." "If [H5N1] gets into a population where there's constantly animals going in and out … it might not ever leave."

I've been watching this develop for the past several days, and apart from being terrified most people will not take this seriously (I've seen a handful of people already shout conspiracy on social media and it's alarming to see, as always). What I wanted to point out is that pandemics are going to continue to be our 'normal.' I watched a great video on YouTube a while ago (I believe it was by Vice?) that touched base on how this is going to become our new reality because of multiple factors (such as our proximity to animals, and environments/etc). It was when Covid hit and they did a piece debunking some of the misinformation floating on the internet. If I can find it I will post it here because it was informative and relevant to pretty much any world crisis we will see around any virus that spreads among a human population.

This post isn't trying to fear monger anyone, I just hope more people are aware of what is happening because this is important to talk about. There are already cases (of cows getting this bird flu) in the US, and I won't be surprised if there will be instances in more countries around the world. As usual, keep washing your hands/keeping good hygiene practices, masking up (and if you aren't I hope you consider it), and taking precautions if you do happen to visit/work or go near a pig or poultry farm too:

I'll keep track of this here of course, but please stay informed folks. And also FU to any governments who will try to minimize this or try to diminish the severity until it's too late and community spread happens like Covid because their actions are influenced by capitalistic interests.

Update (April 7th, 2024, 9:32pm EST): to anyone wondering where some of the source information originates from -here is a link to the CDC. They are tracking documented avian virus outbreaks in the US and the public can access it here:

ID :

Screenshot of tweet from Kelly (@broadwaybabyto) :

“When you’re chronically ill your baseline becomes everything. Whatever limited function you have left you want to protect at all costs. I suspect that’s why many who were disabled before Covid understand & take as many precautions as they can. They know what they’re risking.”

Doctor Beverly Crusher @SpaceDocMom You should no more have to ask your health care workers to mask up than you should have to ask them to wash their hands. These things should be automatic and are not a patient's burden to ensure. emojis: black heart, blue heart, masked 12:59 PM · May 30, 2023

If you're going out to protest, please remember to wear a quality mask or respirator. We're still in a pandemic, and covid-19 is still transmissible outdoors, especially in large crowds like a protest.

It doesn't make any sense to advocate for people's livelihood just to unnecessarily set you and/or someone else up for long-term health issues or death.

(Sources: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 -> a podcast episode from the Death Panel that goes into the misconception that covid-19 is non-transmissible outdoors & a link to the transcript for that episode)