Kristin Meekes
@kmeekes.bsky.social
ICU RN, reader, cyclist, pug + cat mom
Still 😷 #covidisairborne
She/her
Still 😷 #covidisairborne
She/her
I can’t wait to listen to this 😊
Today on Volts: for years, I've wanted to do a podcast on indoor air quality, and I finally found the perfect guest! Dr. Lagoudas & I discuss indoor air pollutants, the policies and technologies that can control them, and the growing need to frame indoor air quality as a basic human right.
What's the deal with indoor air quality?
From CO2 monitors to better building codes, Dr. Georgia Lagoudas outlines how to clean up the spaces where we spend 90% of our lives.
www.volts.wtf
November 19, 2025 at 10:31 PM
I can’t wait to listen to this 😊
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
I won't start ranting about it because I just get myself worked up, but quickly: I literally can not think of an investment of public funds that has a higher return than *cleaning the indoor air in schools*. It's so easy, so cheap, & has such HUGE payoff. Criminal that we basically don't do it.
November 19, 2025 at 7:05 PM
I won't start ranting about it because I just get myself worked up, but quickly: I literally can not think of an investment of public funds that has a higher return than *cleaning the indoor air in schools*. It's so easy, so cheap, & has such HUGE payoff. Criminal that we basically don't do it.
When you lie about mode of transmission (hospitals are still lying, in 2025), treat Covid infections among staff like NBD if you got two vaccine doses 3 years ago and never again, and don’t acknowledge Long Covid…you send people to right wing anti vax movements looking for explanations
November 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
When you lie about mode of transmission (hospitals are still lying, in 2025), treat Covid infections among staff like NBD if you got two vaccine doses 3 years ago and never again, and don’t acknowledge Long Covid…you send people to right wing anti vax movements looking for explanations
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
1/ Inspired by @1goodtern.bsky.social, I've been checking Canadian data. @cihica.bsky.social publicly available is useless. Stats Can is better, but only goes to 2023, because we suck at data in Canada. Nonetheless 👀
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
November 18, 2025 at 11:47 PM
1/ Inspired by @1goodtern.bsky.social, I've been checking Canadian data. @cihica.bsky.social publicly available is useless. Stats Can is better, but only goes to 2023, because we suck at data in Canada. Nonetheless 👀
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
Many of us continue to navigate #LongCOVID without access to a family doctor.
And all that talk of trying off-label meds, as it turns out, was just talk.
So we struggle on with zero support, zero medical care, & a whole lot of government-manufactured #Stigma.
Welcome to our world 🌎
And all that talk of trying off-label meds, as it turns out, was just talk.
So we struggle on with zero support, zero medical care, & a whole lot of government-manufactured #Stigma.
Welcome to our world 🌎
I’ve spent the last hour reading hundreds of posts from long COVID support groups.
I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to read the suffering.
Trigger warning.⚠️
Several posts talk of a feeling of fading away… into death…
and we have recently lost several wonderful long COVID advocates…
I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to read the suffering.
Trigger warning.⚠️
Several posts talk of a feeling of fading away… into death…
and we have recently lost several wonderful long COVID advocates…
November 18, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Many of us continue to navigate #LongCOVID without access to a family doctor.
And all that talk of trying off-label meds, as it turns out, was just talk.
So we struggle on with zero support, zero medical care, & a whole lot of government-manufactured #Stigma.
Welcome to our world 🌎
And all that talk of trying off-label meds, as it turns out, was just talk.
So we struggle on with zero support, zero medical care, & a whole lot of government-manufactured #Stigma.
Welcome to our world 🌎
In the Fall of 2021 I did a few shifts in an ICU that is not my home ICU, and I was floored to see laminated policies tacked to the wall outside each room instructing nurses *not* to use N95s unless performing a list of nonsensical AGMPs. Coughing was explicitly labeled *not an AGMP*
On Thurs 20th, Lady Hallett publishes her module 2 report.
We wait with interest to see how it covers the deception wrought upon HCWs that: a) Covid is droplet/fomite, but not airborne b) Flimsy Fluid Resistant Surgical Masks are 'PPE' and will keep you safe.
We wait with interest to see how it covers the deception wrought upon HCWs that: a) Covid is droplet/fomite, but not airborne b) Flimsy Fluid Resistant Surgical Masks are 'PPE' and will keep you safe.
November 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
In the Fall of 2021 I did a few shifts in an ICU that is not my home ICU, and I was floored to see laminated policies tacked to the wall outside each room instructing nurses *not* to use N95s unless performing a list of nonsensical AGMPs. Coughing was explicitly labeled *not an AGMP*
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
We need clean air.
After a bird flu outbreak tore through Midwestern barns, killing millions of chickens and spiking egg prices, the federal government didn’t investigate if the virus was airborne.
So ProPublica did.
Absolutely terrifying reporting from @natlash.bsky.social:
www.propublica.org/article/bird...
So ProPublica did.
Absolutely terrifying reporting from @natlash.bsky.social:
www.propublica.org/article/bird...
What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. After a disastrous Midwestern outbreak early this year, we tested that theory and found that where the wind blew, the virus followed. Vacci...
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 7:10 PM
We need clean air.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
#Ontario #wastewater graph updated with November 2 data
- Kingston, Peel updated: wwater.ca/Ontario
- Also updated: AB, NB, NL, PEI, QC
wwater.ca
Source: health-infobase.canada.ca/wastewater/
- Kingston, Peel updated: wwater.ca/Ontario
- Also updated: AB, NB, NL, PEI, QC
wwater.ca
Source: health-infobase.canada.ca/wastewater/
November 18, 2025 at 7:27 PM
#Ontario #wastewater graph updated with November 2 data
- Kingston, Peel updated: wwater.ca/Ontario
- Also updated: AB, NB, NL, PEI, QC
wwater.ca
Source: health-infobase.canada.ca/wastewater/
- Kingston, Peel updated: wwater.ca/Ontario
- Also updated: AB, NB, NL, PEI, QC
wwater.ca
Source: health-infobase.canada.ca/wastewater/
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
It sucks to be #HighRiskCovid19 and so medically vulnerable like this, I will keep trying to be open about my accessibility and safety needs, and I hope others (especially and particularly healthcare workers) wear masks when and if they can so I can have a better quality of life
November 18, 2025 at 2:04 AM
It sucks to be #HighRiskCovid19 and so medically vulnerable like this, I will keep trying to be open about my accessibility and safety needs, and I hope others (especially and particularly healthcare workers) wear masks when and if they can so I can have a better quality of life
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
I’ve spent the last hour reading hundreds of posts from long COVID support groups.
I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to read the suffering.
Trigger warning.⚠️
Several posts talk of a feeling of fading away… into death…
and we have recently lost several wonderful long COVID advocates…
I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to read the suffering.
Trigger warning.⚠️
Several posts talk of a feeling of fading away… into death…
and we have recently lost several wonderful long COVID advocates…
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I’ve spent the last hour reading hundreds of posts from long COVID support groups.
I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to read the suffering.
Trigger warning.⚠️
Several posts talk of a feeling of fading away… into death…
and we have recently lost several wonderful long COVID advocates…
I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to read the suffering.
Trigger warning.⚠️
Several posts talk of a feeling of fading away… into death…
and we have recently lost several wonderful long COVID advocates…
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
3/
If organized labour is to have any relevance in the era of #COVID, it must mobilize..."
But it didn't.
In fact, in 2025 there is little difference between the government position on #COVID & #LongCOVID, & the position of most Canadian unions.
Both continue to deny & ignore it.
If organized labour is to have any relevance in the era of #COVID, it must mobilize..."
But it didn't.
In fact, in 2025 there is little difference between the government position on #COVID & #LongCOVID, & the position of most Canadian unions.
Both continue to deny & ignore it.
November 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
3/
If organized labour is to have any relevance in the era of #COVID, it must mobilize..."
But it didn't.
In fact, in 2025 there is little difference between the government position on #COVID & #LongCOVID, & the position of most Canadian unions.
Both continue to deny & ignore it.
If organized labour is to have any relevance in the era of #COVID, it must mobilize..."
But it didn't.
In fact, in 2025 there is little difference between the government position on #COVID & #LongCOVID, & the position of most Canadian unions.
Both continue to deny & ignore it.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
2/
"This vacuum on the left – ranging from weakness to betrayal – is wind in the sails of those who wish to co-opt legitimate disaffection in service of a turn to authoritarian capitalism.
It’s not a stretch to say there is no left to speak of on the current political landscape.
"This vacuum on the left – ranging from weakness to betrayal – is wind in the sails of those who wish to co-opt legitimate disaffection in service of a turn to authoritarian capitalism.
It’s not a stretch to say there is no left to speak of on the current political landscape.
November 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
2/
"This vacuum on the left – ranging from weakness to betrayal – is wind in the sails of those who wish to co-opt legitimate disaffection in service of a turn to authoritarian capitalism.
It’s not a stretch to say there is no left to speak of on the current political landscape.
"This vacuum on the left – ranging from weakness to betrayal – is wind in the sails of those who wish to co-opt legitimate disaffection in service of a turn to authoritarian capitalism.
It’s not a stretch to say there is no left to speak of on the current political landscape.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
1/
Circa 2022
The #OngoingPandemic was & still is very much an opportunity for unions & the left to do the right thing by workers.
And yet most unions continue to be "strangely silent":
rabble.ca/columnists/t...
Circa 2022
The #OngoingPandemic was & still is very much an opportunity for unions & the left to do the right thing by workers.
And yet most unions continue to be "strangely silent":
rabble.ca/columnists/t...
The Left is nowhere on COVID. And that’s a big problem.
They have failed to step into the current political climate and counter far-right protests, and get workers the social support they need.
rabble.ca
November 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
1/
Circa 2022
The #OngoingPandemic was & still is very much an opportunity for unions & the left to do the right thing by workers.
And yet most unions continue to be "strangely silent":
rabble.ca/columnists/t...
Circa 2022
The #OngoingPandemic was & still is very much an opportunity for unions & the left to do the right thing by workers.
And yet most unions continue to be "strangely silent":
rabble.ca/columnists/t...
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
"They are literally arguing for large scale RCTs for PPE during Ebola outbreaks because they don't believe in physical science or the precautionary principle."
@sfeltford.bsky.social
@sfeltford.bsky.social
I'd like to volunteer @ipaccanada.bsky.social to go deal with Marburg & ebola outbreaks.
"...limited evidence with which to draw conclusions on the comparative effectiveness of PPE to prevent exposure to and transmission of VHFs [viral hemorrhagic fevers] to HCWs."🤬
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
"...limited evidence with which to draw conclusions on the comparative effectiveness of PPE to prevent exposure to and transmission of VHFs [viral hemorrhagic fevers] to HCWs."🤬
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
Personal protective equipment choices for healthcare workers caring for viral hemorrhagic fevers, CCDR 51(1) - Canada.ca
Review summarizing evidence on PPE use by HCWs to prevent exposure to and transmission of VHFs, including EBOV
www.canada.ca
November 18, 2025 at 4:34 AM
"They are literally arguing for large scale RCTs for PPE during Ebola outbreaks because they don't believe in physical science or the precautionary principle."
@sfeltford.bsky.social
@sfeltford.bsky.social
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
For those interested in this topic and the greatest betrayal of NHS staff in its history, I highly recommend a read through CATA’s closing statement (link above), despite its 40 pages!
Although written for module 3 there are many cross-cutting themes with module 2.
Although written for module 3 there are many cross-cutting themes with module 2.
November 17, 2025 at 11:42 PM
For those interested in this topic and the greatest betrayal of NHS staff in its history, I highly recommend a read through CATA’s closing statement (link above), despite its 40 pages!
Although written for module 3 there are many cross-cutting themes with module 2.
Although written for module 3 there are many cross-cutting themes with module 2.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
Absolutely critical, and relevant to Canada.
On Thurs 20th, Lady Hallett publishes her module 2 report.
We wait with interest to see how it covers the deception wrought upon HCWs that: a) Covid is droplet/fomite, but not airborne b) Flimsy Fluid Resistant Surgical Masks are 'PPE' and will keep you safe.
We wait with interest to see how it covers the deception wrought upon HCWs that: a) Covid is droplet/fomite, but not airborne b) Flimsy Fluid Resistant Surgical Masks are 'PPE' and will keep you safe.
November 18, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Absolutely critical, and relevant to Canada.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
As Canada loses measles elimination status…there’s a lot we might learn about public health approaches from other parts of the world. African countries are doing some things well. Public health leaders & politicians really threw us into Victorian-ass times over here
www.afro.who.int/countries/ca...
www.afro.who.int/countries/ca...
Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles eliminate measles and rubella
In a significant public health achievement, Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles have eliminated measles and rubella, becoming the first sub-Saharan countries to attain this milestone.
www.afro.who.int
November 17, 2025 at 10:20 PM
As Canada loses measles elimination status…there’s a lot we might learn about public health approaches from other parts of the world. African countries are doing some things well. Public health leaders & politicians really threw us into Victorian-ass times over here
www.afro.who.int/countries/ca...
www.afro.who.int/countries/ca...
WTAF
I also just want to emphasize the fear of reprisal for speaking out about issues in the healthcare system because it is a major problem
I also just want to emphasize the fear of reprisal for speaking out about issues in the healthcare system because it is a major problem
“I am not working in those facilities because I find it morally inappropriate.”
A Tyee investigation found that Calgary anesthesiologists are being scheduled by managers, in response to government directives, to work in for-profit chartered surgical facilities, sometimes against their will. #abpoli
A Tyee investigation found that Calgary anesthesiologists are being scheduled by managers, in response to government directives, to work in for-profit chartered surgical facilities, sometimes against their will. #abpoli
Insiders Detail Ways Alberta’s For-Profit Surgery Push Is Failing | The Tyee
The shift strong-arms doctors but hasn’t saved money or shortened waits for critical operations, sources say. A Tyee investigation.
thetyee.ca
November 17, 2025 at 3:49 PM
WTAF
I also just want to emphasize the fear of reprisal for speaking out about issues in the healthcare system because it is a major problem
I also just want to emphasize the fear of reprisal for speaking out about issues in the healthcare system because it is a major problem
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
What an awful mess the NHS is in. Nearly two thirds of staff working while sick. This is risking patient and staff safety. The government guidance needs updating to reflect COVID is airborne and management and unions need to push back please! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Two-thirds of nurses in UK work while unwell, says union
Understaffing is driving workers to ill health and discouraging them for taking leave, says Royal College of Nursing CEO
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:03 PM
What an awful mess the NHS is in. Nearly two thirds of staff working while sick. This is risking patient and staff safety. The government guidance needs updating to reflect COVID is airborne and management and unions need to push back please! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
The AI bubble may be about to bust.
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
November 17, 2025 at 6:37 AM
The AI bubble may be about to bust.
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
I’m not particularly worried about getting sick this winter because I get vaccinated and wear an N95 in indoor public places. I wish masking wasn’t as important as it is, but governments didn’t clean indoor air when Covid hit and now there is just a lot of preventable airborne illness.
A mutation in the flu virus means this year’s flu season is expected to be a bad one, potentially even worse than last year’s record-breaking season. www.huffpost.com/entry/severe...
Experts Are Sounding The Alarm On This Winter Virus — Here’s What You Should Know
It's currently starting to hit the United Kingdom and is also popping up in Canada and Japan.
www.huffpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I’m not particularly worried about getting sick this winter because I get vaccinated and wear an N95 in indoor public places. I wish masking wasn’t as important as it is, but governments didn’t clean indoor air when Covid hit and now there is just a lot of preventable airborne illness.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
Ultimately, the ask is simple and clearly the right choice:
👉Translation of science into medical guidance must be led by experts who understand the science.👈
It's obvious that no magic checklist can possibly substitute for a PhD! We just need to get the word out that this power grab is happening.
👉Translation of science into medical guidance must be led by experts who understand the science.👈
It's obvious that no magic checklist can possibly substitute for a PhD! We just need to get the word out that this power grab is happening.
🧵(1/n) An unfortunate example of confusion around the value of RCTs common to practitioners with limited research training. RCTs are a useful scientific method, but they are only a small part of the biomedical researcher's deep toolbox.
bsky.app/profile/mark...
bsky.app/profile/mark...
"Unnecessary content" placeholder I will use in reposting old Twitter threads with broadly applicable content on bsky. Some were responses to positions taken by others, where the value today is in addressing the idea rather than naming & shaming any one particular individual.
November 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Ultimately, the ask is simple and clearly the right choice:
👉Translation of science into medical guidance must be led by experts who understand the science.👈
It's obvious that no magic checklist can possibly substitute for a PhD! We just need to get the word out that this power grab is happening.
👉Translation of science into medical guidance must be led by experts who understand the science.👈
It's obvious that no magic checklist can possibly substitute for a PhD! We just need to get the word out that this power grab is happening.
Medicine’s refusal to acknowledge that Covid is airborne really broke my brain, and breast cancer screening guidelines are breaking my brain all over again. This whole thread is unfortunately a must read.
OK this is ridiculous. The draft new Canadian public health guidance-development mechanism doubles down on excluding subject matter experts from voting roles, restricts membership to people from inside the EBM pseudoscience bubble, and sets up to funnel public money to McMaster-GRADE courses etc.
Draft Implementation Plan for the Renewed Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care - Canada.ca
Feedback will help ensure effective implementation of the recommendations from the External Expert Review and inform a renewed Task Force.
www.canada.ca
November 17, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Medicine’s refusal to acknowledge that Covid is airborne really broke my brain, and breast cancer screening guidelines are breaking my brain all over again. This whole thread is unfortunately a must read.
Reposted by Kristin Meekes
This is a great obit, and I appreciated Alice’s fight for Palestinians in Gaza being highlighted. I also want to give a shout out to Miles for asking permission to cite my post when technically you don’t have to do that re media law but still an ethical thing to do.
November 16, 2025 at 10:38 PM
This is a great obit, and I appreciated Alice’s fight for Palestinians in Gaza being highlighted. I also want to give a shout out to Miles for asking permission to cite my post when technically you don’t have to do that re media law but still an ethical thing to do.