Photo of 2x-GRAMMY and EMMY nominee @NinaStorey and her dog 🐶Bubsie. Together, they star in @StrangelyOptimistic, a dramedy based on Nina’s real-world struggle with Long COVID that will be released on YouTube and Facebook on April 4. Photo credit: Mask Together America.

Greetings, public health PHANs! We hope you're having a healthy and safe March so far. This is our weekly newsletter for April 3, 2026, with an update on our request for proposals for reducing transmission of airborne pathogens, a recap of our Zoom community discussion on COVID, Clean Air, and the Performing Arts, and news and articles about COVID, other airborne pathogens, and clean air. 

 

You can manage your subscriptions from the “manage preferences” link at the bottom of this email. And you can support us by liking, sharing, and commenting on our social media posts on Bluesky, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. It really helps our visibility when you engage with our posts and follow our accounts.

What's next for our RFP For Reducing Transmission of Indoor Airborne pathogens

We've officially closed submissions for the request for proposals (RFP) for projects that will produce measurable and verifiable reductions in indoor airborne pathogen transmission. We've received applications for over a dozen high-quality projects and we are incredibly excited about them. This month we'll review the proposals with industry experts and have additional discussions with applicants from whom we need additional clarification (if you're not contacted for discussion it does not mean your application isn't moving forward). We expect to reach final funding decisions by late May, and we are planning to create agreements and start projects in June. More news to follow!

 

Recording of Our Zoom Community Chat on April 2, 2026: COVID, Clean Air, and the Performing Arts

We held a terrific Zoom community discussion yesterday which we co-hosted with Air Support Project, on “COVID, Clean Air, and the Performing Arts”. Our guests were performing artists phytocene and Nina Wildflower, who talked about their experiences with being clean-air-aware while they're performing, and event creator Kyle Stevens on his experience with providing clean-air events with his company, Clean Air Events in Seattle WA. The recording is now available for public viewing. If you have feedback or suggestion for future discussion topics, email us at info@phan.global.

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On Sunday, April 19, we'll co-host a Zoom community discussion with our friends at Air Support Project on stress awareness with being COVID-safe. Many people are finding that trying to be clean-air-aware in a world that doesn't always value clean air can be surprisingly stressful. We'll have some stress awareness experts who are also clean-air-aware to talk about some of the challenges and how you can reduce that stress. Register in advance. You'll need a free Zoom account in order to register.

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From April 15-19, COVID advocate GuinessPig has organized Inspire: A Performing Arts Festival By and For the Airborne Aware, a week of online performances and events that are all completely free to the public. Events will include: a Music Showcase on April 15 (two showtimes); “A Pan***ic Play” on April 16; an open-mic night on April 17;  and a new one-hour stand-up comedy special from Ron Placone on April 18. See their RSVP form for the full event listing and to register to virtually attend one or more events.

Ongoing Meetings

Every Saturday evening: Pandemic Pals meetings on Zoom. Every Saturday at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET, the Pandemic Collaborative hosts a Zoom call with several breakout rooms based on age groups, life situations, and special interests. Check their Google Document the day of the call for that week's Zoom link.

 

Every Saturday: The Little Zoom Writers Room hosts a weekly co-writing space open to all COVID realists. Check their welcome page for more info.

 

Every first Tuesday and third Saturday of the month: COVID Creative Coalition Sessions. Tuesdays meetings are at 6PM ET, and Saturday meetings are at 11AM ET. These will be virtual gatherings where we co-work, plan projects, center disability justice, and hold optional check-ins. Full info at Celebrate845.com/COVIDCreativeCoalition. 

 

Every Sunday: The COVID-Safe Art Collective holds an online gathering every Sunday at 4:30pm until 6pm CT for COVID-safe adults to create art or just chat and be with other aware folks. Zoom link.

 

Every Monday & Sunday: Rising Hope meetings on Zoom. Rising Hope is a community of COVID-conscious folks that meet Monday evenings, plus Sunday mornings for church services. Contact them via Reddit.

 

Daily: The World Health Network hosts COVID-aware community meetings every day. Community care starts with conversation! Their Welcome page explains how to connect with their meeting groups.

All PHAN events are listed on our Events page and can be added automatically to your calendar app of choice.

 

April 4, 2026: Roundtable discussion on denial and collective care in the age of pandemics. 6pm British Standard Time (1pm ET), sponsored by Healing Justice London. Register in advance.

 

April 4, 2026: Singer Nina Storey will release her short film “Strangely Optimistic”, a dramady about her life with Long COVID. This film was co-produced by Mask Together America founder Julie Lam and will be released on YouTube and Facebook.

 

April 6-12, 2026: The American Public Health Association is sponsoring National Public Health Week to highlight the importance of public health for overall quality of life, and they'll kick it off on Monday, April 6, with a public forum about public health disinformation at 2pm ET. The forum will explore practical, evidence-based strategies for cutting through the noise, strengthening clear and transparent communication, and helping communities spot credible information.

 

April 15-19, 2026: Inspire: A Performing Arts Festival by and for the Airborne Aware. See the item above.

 

April 19, 2026: PHAN and Air Support project will co-host a discussion on COVID and stress awareness. See the item above. Register in advance. 

 

May 18-22, 2026: The 12th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation, & Energy Conservation in Buildings takes place at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Register in advance.

 

May 25-31, 2026: World Mask Week, where everyone is encouraged to commit to mask in public for just one week. From the celebrate845 website: “At its simplest, Mask Week asks folks to commit to masking up for collective health for 1 week. Bigger picture, Mask Week is so many things—an invitation to co-ideate with folks inside or outside your region, a tangible solidarity action, a vessel to meet like-minded folks, a way to truly embody intersectional values, and so much more.” 

March 30, 2026:  The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative reports that the U.S. has exited the 12th wave of COVID-19. Transmission remains risky in absolute terms, but levels are lower nationally than any time in the past year.

 

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March 27, 2026: Ocular symptoms related to Long COVID infection affect more than just the eye. Participants with ocular symptoms were more likely to report hospitalizations for COVID infection–related conditions, current financial hardships, social isolation, and housing instability than participants without ocular symptoms.

 

March 31, 2026: Evidence is growing that attacks from our immune system are a cause of Long COVID. 

 

March 31, 2026: The Sick Times reports that the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unveiled a new Long COVID website. Behind the scenes, federal health officials have been consulting with leading Long COVID researchers and advocates to plan new programs, according to people involved in those conversations who spoke to The Sick Times. However, progress has not been speedy or transparent, with government shutdowns and staffing changes at federal agencies adding hurdles. 

 

April 1, 2026: Pfizer and BioNTech have decided to halt a large US trial of their updated COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults aged 50 to 64, after failing to find enough people willing to take part in it. The trial had aimed to enroll between 25,000 and 30,000 people, but struggled to attract eligible participants, particularly under tight inclusion criteria requested by the FDA that excluded chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. 

 

April 1, 2026: Long COVID is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. People with Long COVID are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in eClinicalMedicine. The results show that the risk of conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery disease is higher even among those who were not hospitalized during the acute infection.

 

April 2, 2026: From the Pandemic Center at Brown University's School of Public Health: This past week, the US had 109 new measles cases across 12 states, an increase compared to last week (88 cases). The average number of cases over the past four weeks was about 118 cases. If that average continues, the 2026 total for the first four months of the year (currently 1,850) will surpass the 2025 12-month total (2,128) in three weeks. According to the CDC, 92% of people with measles in 2026 were not vaccinated or had unknown vaccine status.

on the lighter side…

Credit: The Vertlartnic

support our work!

If you want to support our work, please donate! Your donations will go towards the projects we're developing and to pay a small team of staffers making it all happen.

 

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If you're interested in volunteering, we'd love to have you! We're looking for folks interested in:

If you match any of those needs, or you have other skills or experience that you think might help our work, we'll find a way for you to help! Fill out our contact form on our website and one of us will get back to you as soon as we can.