Brutkey

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

curious. crafter. creative. imaginary friend. iridescent beatnik. mentholated curmudgeon. sparkling observationalist. chronic overthinker. cute recluse. 🇨🇦

childfree by choice. hoh. covid avoidant. reluctant consumer. unmonetizeable.

avatar/pfp: silver-haired woman in mod teal top wearing silver and teal respirator

header: text reads "Scio Me Nihil Scire" (Latin for "I know that I know nothing") in the style of the NBC "The More You Know" logo

Notes: 9444
Following: 0
Followers: 0

portfolio: http://thatkatharine.com
blog: http://overmused.thatkatharine.com
sparkling observationalist: https://sparklingobservationalist.com
link-o-rama: http://outbound.thatkatharine.com

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

Covid pandemic stuff at a glance - Winter 2026

49% OF COVID INFECTIONS ARE ASYMPTOMATIC, which means you may not know if you are actually sick. This is why it's important to take a multilayered approach (one or more of the following) to protect yourselves and others: N95 and KN95 masks HEPA air filtration Good ventilation (carbon dioxide ‹800 parts per million) Up-to-date vaccinations Rapid tests before gathering Attention to wastewater levels of COVID-19 Yale SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Sources: The Lancet Regional Health, CDC

infographic from Michael Hoerger labelled Jan. 12, 2026, SARS-CoV-2 New Daily Infections, Wastewater-Derived Estimates (U.S.). graph shows the waves of estimated Covid infections spanning 2020–2026. x-axis displays the years, y-axis shows numbers of daily infections. the first three waves, in 2020, early 2021, and mid-2021 show wave peaks estimated between 500,000 and 800,000 infections. the fourth wave, the rise of omicron, peaks over 5 million. the next seven wave peaks range between 1 million and 2.5 million. As of January 2026, the US is in its 12th Covid wave..

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

New #introduction who dis?

Katharine is a quadragenarian with an affection for Memphis Milano aesthetics, bossa nova, art deco, and 20th century pop culture (specifically films of the 1930s, music of the 1960s, and television of the 1980s).

See some of my life's work at my glitch in bio page: https://outbound.thatkatharine.com

Posts are generally "and here's another irritating thing about life" observations.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

Finally! The full set of Covid-Safe Scouts badges is available. See all 30 badges recognizing our efforts in continuing to prevent exposure to and spread of Covid.

Collect them!
Share them with friends!
Despair that these are achievements!
Commiserate with fellow Covid-Safe brethren over our mutual despair and commemorate our achievements!

https://thatkatharine.com/covidsafescouts.html

#CovidSafeScouts #CovidIsNotOver

Screenshot of part of Covid-Safe Scouts page includes the COVID-Safe Scouts emblem; text describing COVID-Safe Scouts as a group advocating for COVID safety through respirators, masks, ventilation, and air quality; and the first set of Merit badges.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

Ready to join the Covid-Safe Scouts?
You may already be one!
A Covid-Safe Scout is trustworthy, helpful, cautious, alert, courteous, kind, logical, sensible, resourceful, brave, conscientious, and resilient.

Browse the full collection of badges and claim yours—
Save the PNGs to your devices and share on your socials.
Use the #CovidSafeScouts hashtag to share your Covid-Safe stories and pride.

https://covidsafescouts.com/badges.html

#CovidIsNotOver #CovidSafeScouts

A collection of COVID-19 related badges divided into three categories: Merit Badges, Proficiency Badges, and Mastery Badges. Each badge represents different actions or achievements related to COVID-19 prevention, safety, and awareness.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

Here's a link to a page on my website with the collection of my Covid-themed art (may be updated as time goes on) and bonus links to my N95 shopping guide and incredibly lengthy recap of the pandemic up to August 2023.

https://thatkatharine.com/covid.html

black and white illustration of a giant N95 mask with human legs dancing in front of a pleated curtain

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

When they say AI is optional, but your option is to turn it off because they decided AI is default.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

Covid pandemic stuff at a glance - Winter 2026

49% OF COVID INFECTIONS ARE ASYMPTOMATIC, which means you may not know if you are actually sick. This is why it's important to take a multilayered approach (one or more of the following) to protect yourselves and others: N95 and KN95 masks HEPA air filtration Good ventilation (carbon dioxide ‹800 parts per million) Up-to-date vaccinations Rapid tests before gathering Attention to wastewater levels of COVID-19 Yale SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Sources: The Lancet Regional Health, CDC

infographic from Michael Hoerger labelled Jan. 12, 2026, SARS-CoV-2 New Daily Infections, Wastewater-Derived Estimates (U.S.). graph shows the waves of estimated Covid infections spanning 2020–2026. x-axis displays the years, y-axis shows numbers of daily infections. the first three waves, in 2020, early 2021, and mid-2021 show wave peaks estimated between 500,000 and 800,000 infections. the fourth wave, the rise of omicron, peaks over 5 million. the next seven wave peaks range between 1 million and 2.5 million. As of January 2026, the US is in its 12th Covid wave..

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

isolation food

Combined cucumber, roasted garlic seaweed snack, and ramen with a ginger vinaigrette. A pleasant dish for a hot summer evening.

bowl filled with ramen and cucumber slices with a glob of seaweed in the middle

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

isolation food

A colourful tribute to corn. Canned chicken + canned corn medley + Caesar dressing + blue corn chips.

My favourite solo meal is nachos but have neither the shelf-stable ingredients nor the heating elements to make it, so it’s no cook not-chos tonight.

close up of bowl filled with a mixture of corn and chicken salad and blue corn chips tucked in around the edges and centre

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

No Reply at All the King’s Men

#LoveABookASong
#HashTagGames

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

isolation food

Dumped a can of mandarin oranges on salad confetti. Paired well with the less than photogenic grilled cheese sandwich I also made on my mini waffle iron.

salad with kale, shredded cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, mandarin oranges, and croutons, served in a paper bowl.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

isolation food

Combined cucumber, roasted garlic seaweed snack, and ramen with a ginger vinaigrette. A pleasant dish for a hot summer evening.

bowl filled with ramen and cucumber slices with a glob of seaweed in the middle

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

The constant negotiation and justification for not wearing a respirator is exasperating.

You have had 3–4 solid years of cherrypicking mask use and foregoing masks altogether.
You have enabled the continued spread and mutation of Covid.
You have played a role, however indirect it may seem, in the disabling and death of countless human beings (and maybe some pets) as well as the weakening of immune systems—permitting more viruses and diseases to spread.

Your way doesn’t work, babes.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

Since 2022 and the weakening of Covid mitigation which led to almost everyone you know getting their first “breakthrough” infection, we’ve seen—worldwide—a tripledemic, a quademic, the resurgences of measles and whooping cough, and a slew of sudden cardiac deaths. Just to name a few.

Again. This is 2025.

Covid began in 2020 with a whole lot of death. It was the end of 2021 that your pals started chanting “Covid is Mild.”

Aren’t you tired of trying to justify all of this?

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

There is no acceptable level of risk when an asymptomatic infection can lead to infecting and disabling someone else. And it’s impossible to know who is not presently infected, asymptomatic, disguising mild symptoms.

“Am I JuSt sUpPoSeD to be in LoCkDoWn FoReVeR?”

You are supposed to strap on a respirator around people not in your household AND improve ventilation and air quality in your home, work, and social spaces to the clean air.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

The constant negotiation and justification for not wearing a respirator is exasperating.

You have had 3–4 solid years of cherrypicking mask use and foregoing masks altogether.
You have enabled the continued spread and mutation of Covid.
You have played a role, however indirect it may seem, in the disabling and death of countless human beings (and maybe some pets) as well as the weakening of immune systems—permitting more viruses and diseases to spread.

Your way doesn’t work, babes.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

There is no acceptable level of risk when an asymptomatic infection can lead to infecting and disabling someone else. And it’s impossible to know who is not presently infected, asymptomatic, disguising mild symptoms.

“Am I JuSt sUpPoSeD to be in LoCkDoWn FoReVeR?”

You are supposed to strap on a respirator around people not in your household AND improve ventilation and air quality in your home, work, and social spaces to the clean air.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

It is 2025. Covid went worldwide in 2020. Covid is kindergarten age.

Saying “Every time I’ve gotten Covid” is not a normal thing to say about something that’s only been around half of a decade.

Try doing the stuff that reduces your risks of catching Covid. Make that stuff part of your everyday routine. Live life so that you can say “the last time I got Covid was when it was kindergarten age” when Covid is old enough to drive or vote or apply for pensions.

katharine
@thatkatharine@ohai.social

📣 Arts workers are workers and Covid is a performing arts issue.

https://newfeeling.ca/2025/08/08/covid-is-still-a-working-class-issue/

The music industry is deeply tied to the night time economy, which not only fuels its venues and events but also serves as a primary employer for musicians and other arts workers. When the pandemic hit, the abrupt shut down quickly revealed just how precarious workers in those positions are. This work is largely in person, pays minimum wage, happens in crowded spaces with poor ventilation, rarely offers paid sick days or leave, much less any kind of health insurance or job security. These pre-existing inequities are not unique to this industry, but ones that have been exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic.

McBride's case is not unusual. To write this story I put out a call to speak with musicians who have been affected by long COVID. There were far too many respondents to interview, but of the group who reached out, the majority of musicians and music workers navigating long COVID were first infected after 2022, amidst the lifting of many pandemic restrictions and preventions worldwide, and in spite of the fact that the first round of vaccinations and boosters had been released. None of the musicians I spoke with for this piece work in the industry full time, reflecting the lived reality of many musicians and music workers, especially since the pandemic was first acknowledged as such.

Broadly, silence around the ongoing pandemic is affecting our ability to collectively bargain for health and safety protections we should be entitled to. This invisibilization of COVID from conversations in live music can make it incredibly difficult for artists to ask for protections or accommodations. "I've been told by at least three people that sit on audition panels to not even bother auditioning" Cameron explains. "One, I can't audition if I'm masked and singing. And two, there would just be no way for them to ever have room to talk about it or to find a way to make it safe."