The maskers comic Presents

the bad news

Research shows long COVID risks are substantial after infection, and they rise significantly after each reinfection.

The maskers comic Presents

the good news

If we can hold out long enough and not get infected, we can use the tools of infection prevention that we have to avoid infection and give time for new and better therapies and technologies to develop. 

key takeaways

how to prevent infection

Masks are effective for reducing risks, but one-way masking (where only you are masking amongst other non-maskers) offers limited protection. Masks work better in settings with lower viral densities. Here are some tips to help your mask help you:

1- Ask others to mask too. 

• This is especially important when they are close to you, since exhaled virus is strongest closest to the source. So asking those in your group or who are interacting with you to mask is a reasonable request. You can even bring extra masks to offer them.

• If they say they are not sick, remind them that half of infections are spread by people who are presymptomatic or asymptomatic and not showing any signs of sickness while still being able to spread it to others. 

• Testing can't rule out infections, so still mask unless it is part o a strict regiment of multi-day testing with quarantine.

2- Seek places with good ventilation/ filtration.

• Viral aerosols can and do travel further than 6 feet, and they build up indoors over time, creating a thick but invisible fog of infectious viral aerosols around you. Although spacing out is good (as we said earlier viral densities are highest near their source), it is also important to help the virus clear out of the indoor space.

• One tiny HEPA won't cut it. Enhancing filtration and ventilation to allow for 6-12 air changes per hour will reduce the buildup of virus in a significant way. Places can do this by adding the correct numbers and size of portable air purifiers (like HEPA purifiers or those made with fans and MERV-13 filters like CR Boxes of PC Fan-and-filter boxes). This can be supplemented by opening windows and turning on fans to get cross-ventilation (where fresh air can come in and contaminated air out). Regardless of how good the ventilation and filtration, you still need to mask up, since that will protect you while the virus is clearing and/or being filtered out. 

• It is important to remain masked after unmasked people leave, and to continue ventilating and/or filtering, since it can take time for that ventilation and filtration to remove the accumulated viral aerosols. It can take between 15 minutes (in a space with 12 ACH) to 2 or more hours in places with less air changes, for infectious doses to clear out of a space. 

• Outdoor spaces have high air changes per hour by nature However, virus can still spread to you from a person who is close to you or upwind from you. It doesn't take much virus to get an infectious dose. So wear your mask outside too if others are nearby. Ask those that are hanging out with you closely for longer periods to mask up. Avoid large crowded areas where viral aerosols could be dense COVID is present year-round, and wastewater data has shown that it is in a significant amount of the population at all times, although it spikes exceptionally high around times of increased travel and indoor gatherings. Risks that someone is infectious is present is even higher in areas with more people as well.  

3- Limit your time in higher risk settings. 

• Only go into higher risk environments (where many people are unmasked) if it is for an essential reason (like getting food and water, or essential medical care), and there is no better alternative (like curbside pickup, delivery, or virtual appointments). 

• Some studies showing risks can be very high after 30 minutes of being around unmasked people even if you are masked. If you are not masked, and they're not masked and infectious, transmission can happen in a very short time, a few minutes or less. COVID has evolved to be able to infect people easier, and cling onto our cells better over time, and that trend is continuing.    

4- Wear a respirator as opposed to a surgical mask when around others outside your household. 

• You can find your best fit mask by performing seal checks, fit testing, and replacing masks if they get wet, dirty, after being in a higher risk setting, a medical setting, or a place where a known infectious person was, or after a cumulative 30 hours of wear-time.

5- Remember than COVID can lead to long COVID, which we are all at risk for regardless of health status, age, or severity of initial infection.

• Months later serious effects happen that are often disabling, and they're not rare-- 1 in 5 infections can result in long COVID, and that risk gets higher the more times you are infected.

• This means we are all are at risk of serious outcome from a COVID infection, and avoidance practices should be put in place by all of us to protect both ourselves AND others. It requires change by individuals and communities.  

What's new

World Health network

The Maskers Comic is proud to be volunteering with the World Health Network, a global network of individuals from all backgrounds that aims to identify problems and find solutions to the problems COVID-19. 

The maskers comic presents

respirator masks (N95/KN95/KF94)

COVID spreads through the air, so wearing respirator masks is one of the best and safest things you can do to help protect yourself and others. 

What is Enhanced Air filtration? 

Adding air purifiers such as HEPA purifiers and/or fan-and-filter air cleaners that use MERV-13 filters to improve your air filtration can reduce COVID risks. Most standards recommend 6-12 Air Changes Per Hour, which will require knowing the size of your space and the CADR (specifically smoke CADR) of your air cleaners.

ASHRAE Standards: ASHRAE’s 2021 Ventilation for Industrial Settings During the COVID-19 Pandemic states: “Maintain between six and twelve air changes per hour (ACH), which will provide a greater than 99% purge in 30-60 minutes. This reduction applies when the building is unoccupied – the concept of purging does not apply if a source is still present (i.e., potentially infectious individuals are still in the workspace). It is important to maintain as much outside air and/or sufficiently filtered recirculated air as possible to achieve the goal of > 6 ACH.” 

The 2023 ASHRAE Standard 241Control of Infectious Aerosols, which can be previewed here, sets minimum equivalent clean air flow rates for infection risk mitigations for long range transmission according to the building’s occupancy category. In Table 5-1 they define spaces such as gym, classroom, lecture hall, classroom, health exam room, residential common space, etc and expresses the minimum equivalent clean airflow rate required using cubic feet per minute (cfm) per person as well as liter per second (l/s) per person to allow for better variation based on number of people in the room and activity level of the people. For a classroom setting it uses 40 cfm per person, or 20 l/s per persons, which for an average classroom of 25 it converts to approximately 8-12 ACH.

NOTE on Converting recommendations that use L/S

to ACH 

Liters per second (l/s) is an alternative to ACH that is used in certain recommendations, such as ASHRAE's newest Standard 241, which can be previewed here (scroll to Standard 241, then find Table 5-1) and

1- find the recommendations for the occupancy category that is closest to your space.

2- Multiply the cfm per person by the approximate number of occupants that will be in your space.

3- Then use the cfm to ACH converter below to see how many ACH that translates to:

Things to look out for after an infection

The Maskers comics list

our personal RECOMMENDATION: Homeschooling and public virtual schooling resources

Despite our and others efforts many schools do not appear to be responding to creating safe learning environments. As a homeschool family, we highly recommend homeschool and virtual school over going into most public schools at this time due to the limitations of one way masking in high viral density settings. Since schools have a high population of unmasked people in a small place with inadequate ventilation and filtration, and kids are there for long periods of time, we do not believe this is safe. Here we provide resources with more information to help advocate for bringing air purifiers into schools and using 504 plans if you do need to go to public schools. We also provide resources on public virtual school and homeschool. Our journey into virtual schools started pre-pandemic with a Public Virtual School and then we moved to straight homeschooling in 2021 using virtual curriculum and social groups to supplement, and have been doing so ever since. Here are some resources we use/have used and recommend:

OTHER Recommended Videos ON SCHOOL SAFETY

CLEAN AIR HEALTHY SCHOOLS

A Totally Serious Animation About Improving Indoor Air Quality in Schools

10 questions to ask your provider 

1- Do you require staff to wear N95/KF94, KN95, or better respirator masks?

2- If not, will you and your staff wear N95/KN94/KF94 respirator masks or better upon request?

3- Do you require masking and testing for patients reporting and/or experiencing symptoms of diseases transmitted through the air (ie coughing, sore throat, fever, GI symptoms, pink eye, etc)?

4- Do you require masking and testing for staff reporting or experiencing symptoms of diseases transmitted through the air?

5- Do you require COVID-positive staff to isolate at home for a minimum of 10 or more days?

6- Do you have MERV-13 or better filters installed in HVAC?

7- Do you have HEPA purifiers or air cleaners in the patient and/or waiting rooms?

8- Will you allow patients to bring a portable HEPA purifier with them to appointments?

9- Do you enhance ventilation by opening windows or having mechanical ventilation?

10- Do you have Far UV or other air cleaning/ surface disinfecting technology installed in the building?

COVID-19 BLOGS AND WEBSITES

1. Air Support Project Blog: COVID And Other Airborne Germs – AIR SUPPORT PROJECT

2. Augey Ray Google Doc Spreadsheet of 400 Studies finding long-term, chronic risks of COVID-19 

3. Burnout, COVID, and Community Care

4. ChiRainerBornFree Substack: It Feels Like COVID Again 

5. CHRISTINA PAGEL SUBSTACK: ENGLAND IN BIGGEST COVID WAVE

6. Compilation of Reputed Sources on COVID-19

7. COVID Aware (COVID Safe Businesses Network)

8. COVID Safe Scouts 

9. COVID UNDERGROUND SUBSTACK: COVID-FREE MOVEMENT

10. Covid Tips: How to Talk to Your Family About COVID 

11. The Defector: Why I Keep Masking (April 2025)

12. DEREK FRANKS SUBSTACK: COVID ISN'T OVER. YOU'RE IN DANGER. I'M DONE WITH THE GASLIGHTING. YOU SHOULD BE TOO.

13. Do Not Panic (Nate Bear): Biden Quits While Sick with Covid Says We Overcame Covid

14. The Disabled Ginger: "We Don't Do Sick" and Tips for Surviving Hospital Trip When Chronically Ill

15. DR. RUTH COVID NEWS AND MORE Substack

16. Dr. Joe’s COVID and Science Substack

17. Easy Chair Substack (Anthony Leonardi) The Attack on Long COVID

18. Find Your Tribe WordPress

19. Friesein: Thread: COVID Causes Cumulative Damage

20. THE GAUNTLET (JULIA DOUBLEDAY) SUBSTACK (BILLIONAIRES AT DAVOS DON'T THINK COVID IS A COLD)

21. Hearts on the Horizon: My 5 Stages of Pandemic Grief

22. IMMUNOCOMPROMISED TIMES ON SUBSTACK (COVID-19 TREATMENT INFO IS POORLY ACCESSIBLE AND DIFFICULT TO READ ON STATE, TERRITORY AND DC WEBSITES) 

23. It's Airborne (Joey Fox): Equivalent Clean Airflow Rates from ASHRAE 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols (Part 2

24. JESSICA WILDFIRE'S SUBSTACK HOW TO KEEP GOING FORWARD IN A WORLD THAT'S GOING BACKWARD and OK Doomer, We Are Sick of Getting Sick Let's Clean the Air! https://www.okdoomer.io/were-sick-of-getting-sick-clean-the-air/

25. John Snow Project: Everything You Need to Know About COVID

26. Kids' Zone Magazine: (World Health Network)

27. Long COVID Moonshot: Awareness and fundraising for long COVID. 

28. The Maskers Comic Website COVID-19 Advocacy, Comics, and Resources

29. Never Not Broken Substack: Why We Are Like This

30. PanacCIndex: Is COVID Harmful to Children

31. Pandemic Accountability Index

32. PANDEMIC ROUNDUP Patreon 

33. People's CDC (peoplescdc.org)

34. The Polyphony: Conversations Across the Medical Humanities (October 2022): Behind the Mask, Making COVID-19 Comics  

35. The Psychologist (the British Psychological Society) : The Mosaic of COVID-Consciousness (October 2024), and the Lone Ranger in COVID-Town (August 2024)

36. Sharon A Blog: Not Just the Flu -Why This PARTICULAR Covid Wave is Bad  

37. The Sick Times

38. So Very Virtual Substack

39. CT NOW INFO SUBSTACK (WHY DID EXPONENTIAL GROWTH STOP IN INDIA?)

40. TEAMS HUMAN Substack: Everything is Political. Famines are political. And so are pandemics. 

41. Testimonials of the Collectively Abandoned Zine

42. Violet Blue: Huge, Free Covid-19 Safety and resource List

43. World Health Network Blog: COVID-19: The Elimination of the Virus is Always Possible

44. Why our Family is COVID Cautious- Website with Resource

45. You Have to Live Your Life but "Doctors Aren't Wearing Masks": A Resource for COVID-19 Research and Information 

The Maskers comics

Personal Disclosure

This work I do here on my site is unpaid work. You may be wondering:

Why listen to my work and research here?

My Credentials: 

I have a BA Degree in Psychology from the University of South Florida, with over 11 years of continued education experience in allergy, asthma, autoimmune disease, N95 masks, and airborne irritants. I have a disabling autoimmune disease, and am a single parent-- which together equate to a full-time job keeping my child and I safe and social, and making this work a personal calling. 

Unlike many health organizations (like the CDC and WHO) who often get funding for science from political members/countries, I have no reason to make unsubstantiated policies to quell the self-interests of political and/or economical entities of my member states. (Although I refer to studies run by these groups, and support some of their better policies that are backed up by studies, I also point out they times their policies do not match the science, are made for political or economic reasons, and/or are part of their attempt to stay relevant to masses at the expense of their safety.)

Unlike many in the healthcare industry, I am not influenced by money, administative policy, appearances, unruly patients, overworked/limited/overstressed staff, or trying to stay within industry standards to compete and stay in business, all while neglecting science and patient care in the process. 

Unlike many businesses who are prone to overvalue short-term profits at long-term expense, I have no reason to let greed interfere with the health and wellbeing of individuals, or our society as a whole. Health brings more prosperity to us all, even if it takes a little more up front to provide a system that supports it, it more than covers costs and pays back millions-fold. What's good for human health is good for business.

Unlike many politicians who depend on a majority-- a majority that have now been misinformed and misguided, inadequately supported during early pandemic response, and confused by mixed messaging -- I am not encumbered by a need to pander to a crowd to win an election.

Unlike many in "the crowd", I am not confused by the conflicting and often contradicting health organizations' policies, since I do spend any extra time I have staying informed by reading a variety of scientific sources and networking with those in independent global organizations.

Unlike those who know but who cannot manage to put it in their lives due to personal circumstance, I am significantly protected in my personal life from any pressures that may affect my ability to feel safe in talking about/living with COVID-19 precautions.

My Disclosure:

As my health allows, I volunteer with World Health Network and Air Support Project. My comics and works are free to view digitally, although those works that are available for print, may have a print costs associated to cover expenses only. 

I aim to stay informed and share quality information with others, as well as to remind that we need to prioritize each other's health first over all else, because there is no benefit to social without safe, and no need to choose between.