Summer Bonus: Catch up readings on Masking, Transmission, Cleaning the air, and related topics

Bonus list of must-read articles on Covid

Photo by David Flandre on Unsplash

Welcome to the first Summer 2025 Bonus Issue for the Covid-Is-Not-Over newsletter!

These bonus issues are basically collections of links that I haven’t been able to use for the regular newsletter. This first bonus issue is all about masking, airborne transmission, air quality and related issues.

I’ll have weeklyish bonus issues before I resume regular newslettering sometime around the end of July or the beginning of August. Those bonus issues will probably focus on Long Covid, health effects of Covid, looming pandemics & surging infectious diseases and how the world has changed because of Covid. Not necessarily in that order..

But we’ll see. No guarantees about number of issues, timing and content. I’ll probably be including Must Read Articles and Musical Interludes in the bonuses, but, then again, I may not.

The whole purpose of these bonus issues is to get something out that I hope you will all find useful but that I don’t have to work too hard on. What with it being summer and all, that seems like the best idea.

With that, I’ll just stop typing.

Top Articles Everyone Should Read on Covid

• What COVID-19 Does to the Body (Eighth Edition, June 2025) / Pandemic Accountability Index

• ANSWERED: Is COVID-19 Harmful to Children? A Compilation of Peer-Reviewed Medical Research / Pandemic Accountability Index

• Immunity Debt: The Conspiracy Theory Elevated to Popular Pseudoscience That Is Making Children Sick / LIL_Science

• You Have To Live Your Life

• "You Have to Live Your Life:" Responses to Common COVID Minimizing Phrases

• Simple things you can do to avoid COVID by Lucky Tran / Aranet

• COVID Incubation Period: Key Facts and Guidelines by Sarah Hudgens / Health

• Calm-mongering: Fine-tuning the potential emotional impact of risk is not the same as managing it by Arijit Chakravarty and T. Ryan Gregory / Monkeys on Typewriters

• 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

• 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

• 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

• A TALE OF TWO TECHNOLOGIES: Far-UVC light disinfection and mRNA vaccines are both potent life saving technologies. In the fight against Covid-19, one was thrust into the limelight, while the other languished in the shadows by Nicola Jane Boyd / Matters of Perspective

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.

Readings on Masking, Transmission, Cleaning the air, and related topics

• Are UV air purifiers worth it? | IQAir

• New Type of Ultraviolet Light Makes Indoor Air as Safe as Outdoors

• The Risk of Aircraft-Acquired SARS-CoV-2 Transmission during Commercial Flights: A Systematic Review

• Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2: The world should face the reality - ScienceDirect

• Masks should be mandatory in healthcare

• Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with SARS-CoV-2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental study

• Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review

• N95 respirator gets top billing in stopping SARS-CoV-2 viral leakage into the air | CIDRAP

• N95 Masks Nearly Perfect at Blocking COVID, UMD Study Shows

• N95 respirator gets top billing in stopping SARS-CoV-2 viral leakage into the air | CIDRAP

• North Carolina Passes HB 237 and Bans Medical Masks in Public

• A quantitative microbial risk assessment approach to estimate exposure to SARS-CoV-2 on a bus

• Study Confirms One Type of COVID Mask Is 'Significantly Better' Than Others

• Association of institutional masking policies with healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 infections in Swiss acute care hospitals during the BA.4 / 5 wave (CH-SUR study): a retrospective observational study

• Review of factors affecting virus inactivation in aerosols and droplets | Journal of The Royal Society Interface

• Indoor air systems crucial to curbing spread of viruses, aerosol researchers say - CBS News

• UV light is a virus-killing wonder. Can it stop bird flu?

• Contraction of Respiratory Viral Infection During air Travel: An Under-Recognized Health Risk for Athletes

• Indoor air systems crucial to curbing spread of viruses, aerosol researchers say - CBS News

• Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck's daughter Violet speaks out against mask bans at public hearing - ABC News

• A CFD study on the effect of portable air cleaner placement on airborne infection control in a classroom - Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (RSC Publishing)

• Study reaffirms that masks prevent COVID-19 transmission - World Socialist Web Site

• Reevaluating the 6-Foot Rule: Efficacy and Challenges in COVID-19 Prevention

• Optimizing Ventilation Strategies for... | ERA

• Salting The Vibes

• Victoria's new 'clean air' project could help end the COVID pandemic and boost productivity - ABC News

• Association of institutional masking policies with healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 infections in Swiss acute care hospitals during the BA.4 / 5 wave (CH-SUR study): a retrospective observational study

• There's Light at The End of The Tunnel

• Contra Costa County Health Dept. recommends masks in crowded indoors as COVID cases rise - CBS San Francisco

• Royal Melbourne Hospital removing their HEPA filters from non-clinical areas. Masks are not required in non-clinical areas (anecdotally=not worn). RMH publicly promoted their efforts to protect patients & staff with HEPAs & N95s when they introduced them-now not so much. / Andrew Hewat (@AndrewHewat) / X

• Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with SARS-CoV-2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental study

• Research shows air filters in classrooms improves overall ventilation and air quality

• A B.C. program is helping vulnerable residents breathe easier with homemade air cleaners | CBC Radio

• The air travel issue no one wants to talk about

• Study shows enforced masking on long flights prevents SARS-CoV-2 transmission

• Why do People Stop Masking After They Get Covid…and How Should These Changes Inform Our Own?

• The German Association for Air Hygiene (DAGL) urges immediate action to improve air quality and infection control in childcare centers and schools. Comprehensive measures are essential to safeguard health, ensure educational continuity, and protect economic stability.

• Kids Are Headed Back to School. Are They Breathing Clean Air? | Scientific American

• Recommitting to Ventilation Standards for Healthy Indoor Air Quality | AJPH | Vol. 114 Issue 10

• Airborne transmission: A hidden threat that must be addressed - LBC

• Adjusting for specificity of symptoms reveals higher prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections than previously estimated | medRxiv

• What It's Like to Wear a Mask: A Survey on Discrimination

• INQ000474276 - Expert Report by Professor Clive Beggs titled An expert report on the physical sciences underpinning Covid-19 transmission and its implications for infection prevention and control in healthcare settings, dated 07/08/2024.

• Opinion | Yes, we do need to bring back masks in medical settings

• better approach to mitigate the risk of airborne infections in workplaces | Occupational Medicine | Oxford Academic

• Is the Covid Inquiry about learning lessons or covering backs?

• A Plea to Maskless Healthcare Workers from Vulnerable Patients

• Did I not get the memo? | CMAJ

• It would cost billions, but pay for itself over time. The economic case for air conditioning every Australian school

• Opinion | Coughing kids, coughing parents. To keep everyone healthy, we have to update our schools

• What if schools could prevent sick days, teacher shortages and lost IQ points? A new COVID safety course lights the way - ABC News

• Kids Are Headed Back to School. Are They Breathing Clean Air? | Scientific American

• Recommitting to Ventilation Standards for Healthy Indoor Air Quality | AJPH | Vol. 114 Issue 10

• Americans outraged as hospitals bring back COVID-era mask mandates for visitors and patients | Daily Mail Online

• EXCLUSIVE: Dr. Miller Calls Out COVID Missteps: 'Airborne Spread Ignored, Public Health Should Come First - WAMN News Online

• Breathing Fire: Wildfire Smoke Linked To Sharp Rise In Dementia Risk - Health Policy Watch

• Air Purifiers and Acute Respiratory Infections in Residential Aged Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial | Infectious Diseases | JAMA Network Open

• Effectiveness of cough etiquette maneuvers in disrupting the chain of transmission of infectious respiratory diseases | BMC Public Health

• Why do CO2 monitors display different readings? – Airspothealth

• Student's article spurs inspection of school's HVAC system | The Kingston Whig Standard

• Want to Limit Respiratory Virus Infections? Mask and Test in Hospitals | MedPage Today

• Testing and Masking Policies and Hospital-Onset Respiratory Viral Infections | Infectious Diseases | JAMA Network Open

• For the love of God, Covid isn't over - so can people please wear masks?

• Air quality monitoring projects | Vancouver Coastal Health

• Mask Mandates Have Kept One Cancer Center Free From COVID-19. Others Have Lifted Masking Requirements Despite Patient Concerns

• Did we really need hospital masking during COVID-19? Study says yes

• What if everyone had masked up? Analysis of app data has an answer

• Estimating the population-level effects of nonpharmaceutical interventions when transmission rates of COVID-19 vary by orders of magnitude from one contact to another

• CDC infection control body rejects the science on airborne transmission

• Association between in situ ventilation and human-generated aerosol exposure in meatpacking plants during the COVID-19 pandemic | PLOS One

• The great unmasking (and why I'm moving on)

• Invisible defenses: A guide for cleaner indoor air - The Sick Times

• Assessing COVID-19 transmission through school and family networks using population-level registry data from the Netherlands | Scientific Reports

• Science tells us that portable air filters reduce infection risk. It's time for public health authorities to make this clear - ScienceDirect

• Wildfire Smog Is Deadly—But LA’s Covid Mask Organizers Have It Covered – Mother Jones

• Indirect death toll from the L.A. fires may end up in the thousands » Yale Climate Connections

• Disinfection of indoor air for the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2: a review of the effectiveness of UV-C technology and gaps in research

• Estimating the population-level effects of nonpharmaceutical interventions when transmission rates of COVID-19 vary by orders of magnitude from one contact to another | Phys. Rev. E

• NFL Reporter Criticized For Still Wearing Mask In 2025 - The Spun

• The Influence of Ventilation Measures on the Airborne Risk of Infection in Schools: A Scoping Review - PMC

• Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review ****

• ‘Airborne’ seems to be the hardest word

• Did Ontario’s COVID-19 funds clean air in schools? | The Narwhal

• 'Toxic' cabin air: legal victory for sick flight attendant

• Mask Blocs Superheroes

• Reassessing Our Approach: Navigating the Rapids of Clean Air and Covid Awareness

• Carl Zimmer on His New Book Air-Borne and What Public Health Experts Learned from the COVID Pandemic | Scientific American

• We’re Witnessing the Fall of Public Health… and Your Best Tool is a Mask

• The wind may be partly to blame for bird flu spread between farms, a new study suggests

• How COVID reshaped public health understanding of disease spread by air

• Air, surface, and wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2; a multimodal evaluation of COVID-19 detection in a built environment | Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology

• Why Are People Wearing Masks in 2025?

• Reassessing Our Approach: Navigating the Rapids of Clean Air and Covid Awareness

• Study examines transmission-risk assessment metrics for infectious diseases in indoor spaces

• We Need Mandatory Masking in Healthcare, and We Need it Now

• Is the air we breathe safe? | Science

• How denial of airborne COVID transmission broke the world - Healthy Debate

• ‘We might die because you won’t wear a mask’: A plea to health-care workers - Healthy Debate

• Far-UVC Is a Public Health Tool We Need Now

• Ultraviolet light can kill almost all the viruses in a room. Why isn’t it everywhere? | Vox

• The Last Mask On: How SARS-CoV-2 Changed My Life Without Even Touching Me. - WHN

• Dáil air is filtered while our children continue to get sick at school

• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Far-UVC Lamps for Reducing Indoor Infection Transmission in Switzerland and Germany: Insights from the CERN Airborne Model for Indoor Risk Assessment (CAiMIRA) | medRxiv

• ‘Abandoned and betrayed’: Removal of mask requirement in B.C. health care sparks outcry – Still COVIDing Canada

• Airborne Danger - The Grind Magazine

• Using a study design from the past, researchers again show COVID-19 is airborne

• “SARS-CoV-2 airborne detection within different departments of a COVID-19 hospital building and evaluation of air cleaners in air viral load reduction” - ScienceDirect

• Associations between indoor air exposures and cognitive test scores among university students in classrooms with increased ventilation rates for COVID-19 risk management

• Indigenous DNA in wastewater is vulnerable to exploitation, Guelph, Ont., researchers say | CBC News

• "Aerosolized Transmissible Diseases Guidance Document" by J. David Miller, John P. (Jack) Springston Jr. et al.

• Measuring the fitted filtration efficiency of cloth masks, medical masks and respirators | PLOS One

• Stuck in the Middle with Masking: Playing the Long Game in a Short-Sighted Age - WHN

• ‘I’m sick of being sick’: Call to fix air quality in schools and childcare

• Human Source Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Aerosol Transmission to Remote Sentinel Hamsters | Open Forum Infectious Diseases | Oxford Academic

• Denial of Airborne Infection: A Review | Psychology Today

• Gender differences and mask wearing: an observational study on a University campus and a mini-meta-analysis

• “I hoped Scotland would be different” - Professor’s plea for Covid air quality control as support in city reaches highest in UK

• Why I Still Wear an N95: A Doctor’s Perspective - WHN

• Wastewater Measures of SARS-CoV-2 Accurately Predict Frequency of Symptomatic Infections in the Community | The Journal of Infectious Diseases | Oxford Academic

• Wastewater testing predicts community COVID cases, experts say | CIDRAP

• Here’s an Inconvenient Truth: Disease Is in the Air | The Tyee

• CDC infection control body rejects the science on airborne transmission

• Measles vaccination rates drop after COVID-19 pandemic in counties across the US

• Evaluating the association between COVID-19 transmission and mobility in omicron outbreaks in China | Communications Medicine

• The effectiveness of air-cleaning technologies against COVID-19 transmission in healthcare settings

• Assessing the role of children in the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium using perturbation analysis | Nature Communications

• H5N1 bird flu 'capable of airborne transmission'

• Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Isolated from Dairy Farm Worker, Michigan, USA - Volume 31, Number 6—June 2025 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC

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