Canadian Thanksgiving Bonus Issue: Covid changes everything, and there’s no going back
Climate change too.
Welcome to the Canadian Thanksgiving Bonus issue of the Covid-Is-Not-Over newsletter! Since life in an academic library in the fall tends to be pretty busy, and since this is a holiday weekend here in Soviet Canuckistan, this issue is a bit on the easier-to-produce side of things.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a lifelong science fiction reader. I like to think that my love of SF has created habits of mind, new pathways in understanding. Namely, a deep understanding that the world can change. And when the world changes, you have to adapt. In some SF stories, the heroes are able to restore the status quo. In other stories, the heroes are heroes because they understand that there’s no going back, that the world is going to remain transformed. And they adapt. SF fans should understand that 2019 isn’t coming back.
And speaking of 2019, at the end of that year we didn’t know if yet, but the world changed. It just did, whether we want to recognize that it did or not. As a consequence, we really have two choices. We can change and adapt to the new reality. Cleaning the air, universal sick leave, vaccines for everybody, mandatory masking in healthcare settings (at least!), all the rest.
Or we can put our heads in the sand and pretend that nothing really serious happened in the world around the end of 2019.
Sadly, that seems to be the option that’s most popular. This issue isn’t about how to change people’s minds. It’s about what the new world might look like. Stuff like how the cognitive effects of Covid will affect road safety. This isn’t about fake experts or politics or denial or cutting off our noses to spite our faces, I’ve covered those topics recently. Check them out.
Over the last few months I’ve collected a bunch of news stories that give glimmers of that new world. Kind of like how the opening reel of a disaster movie flashes up all the foreboding newspaper headlines. Or maybe focus on a dead cow by the side of the road.
Sometimes, the articles look away, and can’t see the elephant in the room. Sometimes they can make the connection between Covid and looming catastrophe. But the connection is there.
Speaking of looming catastrophe, two recent articles you might want to check out….
And speaking of looming catastrophe, there’s also some articles about ignoring the climate crisis at the end too. And an appropriate musical interlude.
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Top Articles Everyone Should Read on Covid
What COVID-19 Does To The Body (Fifth Edition, August 2024) / Pandemic Accountability Index
"You Have to Live Your Life:" Responses to Common COVID Minimizing Phrases
Why is EVERYONE more SICK? by Lola Germs
Covid-19: Will It Mutate To Nothingness? by Rawat Deonandan
Everything "That Friend" Wants You to Know About Covid by Jessica Wildfire / OK Doomer
‘Immunity debt’ is a misguided and dangerous concept by Anjana Ahuja / Financial Times (Non-paywalled version)
Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost. Can Society Do Better? by Lidia Morawska, William Bahnfleth, et al. / Clinical Infectious Diseases
Real Impact of COVID-19 Infection and Why We Should Care by Jeff Gilchrist, PhD
Let's Face It, Covid Trashed Our Immune Systems by Jessica Wildfire / OK Doomer
Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including with significant drops in IQ scores by Ziyad Al-Aly / The Conversation
Navigating the Long Haul: A Comprehensive Review of Long-COVID Sequelae, Patient Impact, Pathogenesis, and Management by Nishant Rathod Jr., Sunil Kumar, et al. / Cureus
Covid Has Changed the World
TODAY: Young People Are More Likely to Die of Heart Attacks Post-COVID, Study Finds. But Why?
Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid - BNN Bloomberg
Nearly a quarter of working-age adults ‘economically inactive’, says ONS
Whooping cough cases double in the U.S., a potential legacy of the pandemic - The Washington Post
Analysis reveals global post-covid surge in infectious diseases | The BMJ
Think you have a summer cold? There's a good chance it's COVID: experts
With Millions Suffering, Long COVID is Devastating the Economy
Sweden saw 62 per cent rise in children’s diabetes diagnoses – one reason could be Covid-19
NHS faces ‘ticking bomb’ with number of heart failure patients set to soar
Record numbers of people in England given dementia diagnosis in past year
New Study: Traffic fatalities increase 17% since pandemic started
Back to school means back to viruses. A doctor explains how families should prepare | CNN
Long COVID is a $1 trillion problem that is missing a cure | Fortune Well
Why does it feel like everyone has an autoimmune disease? - The Washington Post
Montreal man with long COVID seeks medical assistance in dying
Sick days: Assessing the economic costs of long COVID | YaleNews
Long COVID leads to missed work days, economic loss | CIDRAP
Long COVID has cost the Australian economy billions in lost work hours, new research says - ABC News
Deaths Are Up Post-Covid, and So Are Funeral Stocks: Prognosis - Bloomberg
How wave of new dementias may be fueled by surprising culprit every home has been touched by
Long Covid Knocked a Million Americans Off Their Career Paths - WSJ
Arizona life expectancy dropped after COVID-19 pandemic - Axios Phoenix
Study puts understanding of long COVID and vaccination into question | CIDRAP
Children attending childcare can get sick several times a year. Here's why that happens - ABC News
Analysis reveals global post-covid surge in infectious diseases | The BMJ
NYC whooping cough cases skyrocket in 2024 by staggering 169%: new data
Why does it feel like everyone has an autoimmune disease? - The Washington Post
Melbourne man found dead after four-hour wait for ambulance “The Victorian Ambulance Union said 50 ambulance crews were “dropped” overnight because of high levels of sick leave. That meant only 90 ambulances were operating, instead of the 120 usually working night shifts, causing a shortfall across Victoria, the union said.”
The return-to-office wars have diminished workplace well-being—especially for these groups
Cost of health benefits expected to rise over 5% for 3rd year in a row, report says
Covid-19 may lead to longest period of peacetime excess mortality, says new Swiss Re report
We’ve Hit Peak Denial. Here’s Why We Can’t Turn Away From Reality | Scientific American
How surge in long-term illness has made Britain the 'sick man of Europe' | Daily Mail Online
Asthma and lung disease rates skyrocketing, one in five NZers now affected | RNZ News
The return-to-office wars have diminished workplace well-being—especially for these groups
Number of Ontarians without family doctor reaches 2.5 million, college says | CBC News
New AAMC Report Shows Continuing Projected Physician Shortage
Number of people in UK out of work due to ill health growing by 300,000 a year
1 in 12 Utahns suffers from long COVID, health department study says | KSL.com
How wave of heart attacks in young people may be being fueled by COVID
Staff shortages a daily issue for many Ontario schools - People for Education
NHS nursing staff absence: going to work in sickness and health
They’re young and athletic. They’re also ill with a condition called POTS. - The Washington Post
I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is - The Atlantic
Climate too
Public concern about Climate Change drops 14-points since last year. Why? - Abacus Data
Earth’s ‘vital signs’ show humanity’s future in balance, say climate experts
Why aren’t we more scared of the climate crisis? It’s complicated
‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair
World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target
Exploring children’s despair in the face of climate change | Communications Psychology
Here are the places that could become too hot for humans due to climate change
New research explores future limits of survival and livability in extreme heat conditions
Why We Must Talk About Climate Change When Things Are on Fire - Environmental Defence
How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods
As weather-related disasters mount, some Canadian homeowners can't get insurance coverage | CBC News
Climate change: World's oceans suffer from record-breaking year of heat
Southern U.S. has faced twice the global sea level rise rate since 2010 - Washington Post
Which islands will become uninhabitable due to climate change first? | Live Science
Rising sea levels will disrupt millions of Americans’ lives by 2050, study finds
As most have probably noticed, there is no paid subscription option for this newsletter. However, Substack does have an option where subscribers can pledge to subscribe “just in case” and a few kind subscribers have made that pledge. I very much appreciated the vote of confidence in what I’m doing here. What I’ve decided to do on a trial basis is to set up a “tip jar” on the Ko-fi platform. I’m not anticipating a huge surge of income from using Ko-fi but whatever revenue I do end up with, I plan to spend on supporting artists on Bandcamp.
Queen. It’s Late. (But hopefully not too late)