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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
Biorisk consultant specialising in COVID-19 business continuity, forecasting, and analysis.
Business ConsultantBelfast, Northern Irelandlinkedin.com/in/conor-brown…Joined January 2011
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
You're in a pandemic You have a responsibility to yourself and to everyone else Follow public health regulations Wear a mask Socially distance Ventilate indoors Wash your hands Get vaccinated When this is over, be able to look back and say you were part of the solution.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
2/ I live in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. This is literally and figuratively close to home. This will keep happening as long as we continue to allow transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to continue unchecked in our communities. /end
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
Astute point in a great thread, and one that absolutely resonates with my own experience.
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Amanda Hu
@amandalhu
It also reveals something else interesting: my connections to others have grown much deeper during the pandemic through meeting many very caring people. Could it be that this hyper-individualist culture we’re supposed to be all buying into is, in fact, not good for connection?
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Conor Browne Retweeted
Rae
@Sunny_Rae1
There is now emerging evidence that Sars2 is causing subclinical organ damage in our children. Schools have little/no protections to prevent children from repeated Sars2 exposure. Please support a bill for Clean Air in Schools and other indoor public venues.
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Conor Browne Retweeted
LauretteGorman
@LauretteGorman
Benign tumour on head c.2011. 4 wks in hospital on IV antibiotics. Skin graft. Reconstruction surgeries: excision & expansion. 6 months of bi-weekly procedures to stretch the scalp. Multiple GP apts to control infection. Still on a list for a final op. All on the NHS. #SavetheNHS
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Russ Jones
@RussInCheshire
So, to summarise: 7 hours in surgery 9 weeks in hospital 3 months learning to walk again 9 months off work 4 years of experimental chemo and drug trials And I never saw a bill. I never worried about money. The NHS is miracle. Save it.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
'Anticipating what could go wrong is much more useful than anticipating what could go right'. The essence of risk assessment. Outstanding thread.
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Arijit Chakravarty
@arijitchakrav
Viral evolution is not our friend: a🧵 about the future of covid-19. What does the future hold for us with COVID-19? In a recent preprint (h/t @madistod), we continue to explore a question that's concerned us since the beginning of the pandemic: (1) medrxiv.org/content/10.110
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
5/... illustrate exactly how 'objectivity' can be - perhaps subconsciously - confused with ideology. In other words, saying an idea won't work can be psychologically very close to not wanting an idea to work.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
4/ Negative comments are absolutely fine, of course - because hearing and trying to understand obstacles in making this happen is an extremely important part of planning. One thing I would say though, is this: some of the negative comments, a small subset of them...
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
3/... quickly, I would be 100% behind you. It may well be achievable in other jurisdictions, but, alas, not in Northern Ireland. If you can make it happen where you are, go for it! As always on these threads, there were quite a number of negative comments.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
2/ Some general themes worth reflecting on. First, those of you who have suggested thinking bigger - I absolutely agree with your sentiments, and if I thought something like mandated air filtration in all public spaces was possible to achieve...
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
1/ Thank you all very much indeed for your comments on this thread. I've tried my best to read and reply to as many of them as possible. If you've contacted me via direct message for collaboration on this idea, I'll get back to you for sure this week.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
1/ The response to the ongoing pandemic in the short-term and a call for advocacy: 🧵 Tragically, it is my opinion that globally, we will see very little in the way of improved mitigations against infection being put into place in the short-term.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
This is well worth watching. An absolutely fantastic community art project focussing on mental health and suicide awareness in my hometown of Ballymena. Huge thanks and congratulations to the two very talented artists involved.
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Mandy McAuley
@mandy_mcauley
Ballymena - Fantastic community art initiative in estates devastated by suicide and drug addiction. twitter.com/bbcnewsni/stat…
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Conor Browne Retweeted
Dr David Berger, aBsuRdiSTe cROnickLeR
@YouAreLobbyLud
“Please wear a mask. Together, let’s break the chain of COVID transmission.” It's not hard. Honestly, the way this pandemic has progressed in the Western countries I am familiar with is the dumbest thing since... the Brexit vote. Yes, it's that dumb.🤦‍♂️
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Lavanya Krishnan, MS, MPH
@l_krishnan
Next up: Malaysia. Part of the announcement heard on the train: “Please wear a mask. Together, let’s break the chain of COVID transmission.” The framing of the message is important. Breaking the chain of transmission is a huge message. Kudos to the transit department.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
12/ Comments and suggestions are very welcome, as this idea is still in its infancy. There are hundreds of thousands of people who think like this on this platform. We need to stop talking and start acting /end
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
11/ The idea is to ask for the minimum, because the minimum is hard to argue against. In my professional role, I understand the importance of profit. I suspect businesses don't realise there is an untapped market for what I propose.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
10/ Contact all local politicians and press for 'mask-only' carriages on certain train services. Contact all privately owned local indoor arts spaces - cinemas, museums, galleries etc - and press for one slot per week with mandatory masking, or one performance.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
9/ Contact every local supermarket and press for one hour per week in which mask-wearing is mandatory. Contact every local taxi firm and ensure that all drivers will wear good-quality masks if requested to do so.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
8/ (3) To demonstrate to businesses that there is a profitable market for providing safe environments As such, and with the knowledge that these campaigns must be both focussed and local, I intend to do the following:
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
7/ The focus of this campaign will be threefold: (1) To reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a limited way (2) To allow some participation in public life for those who are vulnerable and those who wish to avoid infection
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
6/ But, sadly, this is months away. We all need to do something now. Bismarck famously said, politics is the art of the possible. As such, I propose a grassroots campaign focussed on small, attainable goals.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
5/ Second, as more and more people drop out of the workforce due to Long Covid and other sequelae of infection, and sickness absences increase due to acute infection and sequelae, business will start to pressure governments. Notice how the business press is covering Covid.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
4/ Thus politicians seeking to gain or retain power will have to address it. Erosion of healthcare adversely affects everyone, not just people concerned about Covid-19. Therefore it becomes a major electoral issue. It certainly will be in the UK and Ireland.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
3/... are essentially excluded from life. This is not acceptable. My feeling is that during the latter half of this year, some mitigations may be mandated again. There are two reasons for this. First, the erosion of healthcare capacity is an issue that will lose elections.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
2/ Even the basic protections required - masking in health and social care facilities, masking on public transport, air filtration of public spaces - seem to be gaining no traction in most parts of the world. Without these basic protections, people who are vulnerable...
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
1/ The response to the ongoing pandemic in the short-term and a call for advocacy: 🧵 Tragically, it is my opinion that globally, we will see very little in the way of improved mitigations against infection being put into place in the short-term.
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
This is a key point in an absolutely brilliant thread.
@BlairWilliams26
- you may find this use of game theory interesting!
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Arijit Chakravarty
@arijitchakrav
The bottom line is simply this- pretending that covid is not rampaging through the population is delusional- it's just not sustainable in the long term. At the same time, trying to convince everyone to act in the common good doesn't work. We've learned that much already. (20/)
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
5/ It is VITAL that any suspicion of human - human transmission of H5N1 is promptly reported & any outbreak contained. Health care workers should be on high alert for potential cases of H5N1. The situation is more dangerous than most people realise, or care to understand /end
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
4/ Healthcare systems are overburdened globally already. Co-infection with H5N1 and Covid-19 would only increase the CFR of H5N1 Potential population-level immune dysregulation would increase both transmission and severity of infection of H5N1
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Conor Browne
@brownecfm
3/... put in place for a highly pathogenic influenza pandemic. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic: Governments are not well-placed to respond to this threat in an appropriate manner (another infectious disease threat would not be popular amongst voters...)
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