“People used to be getting healthier year on year. Now we're getting sicker year on year. The difference is Covid.”

🚨 Are people sicker now than in 2019? Civil servants in England are. Sickness absence rates have *risen by between 12% to 23% across the age groups*. Are things getting worse? It certainly looks like it. This is exactly what we predicted repeat covid infection would do.

*Reminds me I still think with some work this could possibly serve as a good TV show or mini-series premise. Pastor by day, virus/disease hunter at night, with a family. Or perhaps an animated version with an actual seabird. All proceeds would go towards COVID & Long COVID awareness, etc.

I find it really really hard to keep up with more than one social media site... I have a full time job, a family, and, you know, a life, so I don't post here much... but I'm going to try to share a bit more. Also posting here too: youtu.be/8cJggmt_CB4

Sickness, Disability, and Death in NHS England Staff The three graphs that *every person* needs to see. The question that every single person needs to ask their government: What are you doing to protect me from Covid infection?

@1goodtern.bsky.social: "It's time to talk about the vax and relax crowd again. They got their shots, so the virus is now someone else's problem. But vaccines *reduce* the risks of Covid's long-term harms *without* eliminating them. The science never said that. It is just what people chose to hear.

One more sleep until the UK edition is out... 😍

She had me at Vyvyan and Rik.

A dérouler car c'est effrayant. Ce sont les données pour le Royaume-Uni mais je suppose que c'est la même chose en France.

A horribly sobering thread from Tern.

From the NHS, which actually has comprehensive data.

Read this thread and weep. Then act as if airborne viruses matter 😷

I've just seen some staggering data on how badly infections are affecting urgent care here *now*. It's hard to comprehend. It's hard to get your head round it. You need to see it to believe it. 👀

There seems to be a bipartisan agreement in the UK to let the NHS fall to pieces through neglect and underfunding. Or am I missing something?

In the last year before Covid arrived in England, 4,059 people waited more than twelve hours to get admitted to hospital after the decision was made to admit them to hospital. During the emergency phase of the pandemic that number rose to a staggering 48,626.

The idea that 'cloth masks are good only for droplets' still circulates. Many have said this, but it is wrong. Recommendations about cloth masks, from spring 2020, were based on aerosol evidence www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/... #WearTheBestMaskAvailable 1/14

We are living in such a state of denial that people are seriously debating whether or not Musk's Nazi salute should be seen as a Nazi salute. If that's where you are, you will be in the digestive tract of the monster long before you've managed to convince yourself that it is, in fact, a monster.

The whole thing about buying Greenland is because Republicans *believe* in climate change. I mean like really believe in it. They want it. They love the idea of it. They're excited about the world burning and the north melting. They're practically counting on it.

the crowd did yesterday....

They are all birds of same feather

This podcast, Sergei and The Westminster Spy Ring is just so epic. Short episodes told well. If you want to understand the last fifteen years, this story is key. 🔑🔥 Listen and share. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

I’m one episode in and it’s great!

It must hurt so hard for all the people who are defending Musk's Nazi salute when what they really want to do is scream "hell yeah" and join in.

This podcast, Sergei and The Westminster Spy Ring is just so epic. Short episodes told well. If you want to understand the last fifteen years, this story is key. 🔑🔥 Listen and share. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

I've visited six hospitals this week. I've actually seen more people in masks than I have in 18 months. But most of the masks have been ones that aren't designed to protect against spread of airborne disease. They're not the solution. We need to use the right tools for the job.

A visual guide to the destruction of Gaza www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

I am shocked and stunned and shocked that Boris Johnson might have misled us about this. "Half of new hospitals promised by Boris Johnson will not be built for decades" www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

I just mentioned to the ternlings that it takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to get to the earth from the sun, which is exactly 500 seconds, and one of them said "that's a suspiciously round number".

A couple of years ago, I ended up in the hospital with an infection that started in my mouth that moved to my lungs and brain. It wasn't long after having COVID. I still wonder. It was a horrendous experience. I'm glad I beat the odds and have suffered no long-term damage from it.

"...sexual abuse is overwhelmingly likely to be carried out by someone you know, who you may be related to or in a relationship with, and who is pretty nice to you some of the time. These are complex and inconvenient truths, but they are truths." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It would cost over £1800 for a family of 5 to get vaccinated for the tripledemic illnesses you ignorant loofah. The government aren't offering them. <screams> "This could be the toughest winter in NHS history. Here’s a simple way we can all help: Get vaccinated" 🤬

It would cost over £1800 for a family of 5 to get vaccinated for the tripledemic illnesses you ignorant loofah. The government aren't offering them. <screams> "This could be the toughest winter in NHS history. Here’s a simple way we can all help: Get vaccinated"

"Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s desperation to be cool as they suck up to Donald Trump is so cringe it makes my skin crawl" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why do people who catch covid catch so many secondary infections afterwards? It's because of the immunity dent.

"Economic growth could fall 50% over 20 years from climate shocks, say actuaries" Story: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I was today years old when I realised that bovril is called bovril because it's made from cows.

Ha... I know this is going to be a strange recommendation that will apply only to a small number of people... but do you ever spend a day in a mask and it ends up smelling of sweat? This fragrance free hypoallergenic stuff works on your face too: superdeodorant.com/yxckkn

One of the things that's easy to forget about the bots and trolls used to sway influence on social media is that the controllers **play both sides against each other**. Some of the accounts that seem to support you or back you up, but do so aggressively, will be there to poison the well.

If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, behind only China and the US. If air conditioning were a country, it would be the fourth largest emitter, right behind cement.

Here's what gets me about the outrage at Farage and Truss being at the climate denying Heartland UK launch... The Heartland Institute is intimately linked through funding, personnel, and policy with the Covid denying Brownstone Institute...

A sad footnote on this article: 250,000 miscarriages is actually nearer 30% of pregnancies than the 20% ("over a fifth") mentioned in the article. And, yes, time to grieve and heal is needed by many who go through this.

Ironic that there are people praising the fire proof nature of concrete buildings when the cement and concrete industry contributes 8% of all manmade carbon emissions. I say ironic, but I actually mean disingenuous, malicious, and evil.

Most people seem to tune it out and not hear it, but when you get even a small group together here the sound of coughing is constant. People's lungs are so damaged. They pretend it's a mystery, but it's what you get from catching Covid repeatedly.

To the doctor with a sore throat and cough whom I saw seeing patients, no, a throat lozenge is not an adequate mitigation against spreading your illness.

Double wrong. It's Proper Nutty. www.propernutty.co.uk

Look carefully at the bottom of the picture. 👀 The NHS is advertising for "corridor nurses". 🤬

Perfect Sunday morning to have off. Above the clouds.

This thread.

Yesterday I was in a bad crash, somewhat the "is this the time a crash finally kills me?" sort. Symptoms that if a healthy person woke up with them, they should immediately call 911 and get themselves to an ER. (This thought ends on a happier note, hang in there--)