Gabrael Bey (@truth.bey)— the Cal State-Northridge film student who served as cinematographer for Strangely Optimistic!. Photo credit: Mask Together America.

Greetings, public health PHANs! We hope you're having a healthy and safe April so far. This is our weekly newsletter for April 10, 2026, with news of an upcoming Zoom discussion about mask blocs on April 19, a recap of our Zoom community discussion on COVID, Clean Air, and the Performing Arts, some community and creator spotlights, and news and articles about COVID, other airborne pathogens, and clean air. 

 

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Unfortunately we had to cancel our planned discussion on “Stress Awareness and Being COVID Safe” for April 19, since our intended speakers were not available. But we've scheduled a new discussion for later that day, at 5pm ET, that we think will be just as relevant: Let's Talk About Mask Blocs! We'll explain what mask blocs are, how they work to provide free or low-cost masks and other supplies to their communities, and how you can create your own local mask bloc. Guest speakers will include COVID activist Chris Covell, who started a local mask bloc in New York state. Register in advance. You'll need a free Zoom account in order to register.

Recording of Our Zoom Community Discussion on April 2, 2026: 

COVID, Clean Air, and the Performing Arts

We held a terrific Zoom community discussion on April 2, 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, who spoke 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.

Community Spotlight: “Strangely Optimistic", a film about living with Long COVID, released for Easter Seals Disability Film Challenge

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Aspiring singer-singwriter Nina Storey created a funny and moving short movie, Strangely Optimistic, to raise awareness about Long COVID for the Easter Seals “Disability Film Challenge”. Storey was blindsided by debilitating mystery symptoms following a COVID-19 infection early in the pandemic. Although perpetually gaslit by everyone around her, armed with dark humor, music, her loyal pup, and an alarming amount of pickle juice, she finds a way to keep getting back up. The video was edited by Mask Together America founder Julia Lam and is available to watch for free. 

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COVID advocate @GuinessPig has organized Inspire: A Performing Arts Festival By and For the Airborne Aware, from April 15-19, a week of online performances and events that are all 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 stand-up comic 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 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.

 

April 11, 2026: "Fuck Covid" open mic & after party, hosted by The Little Zoom Writers Room

 

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 mask blocs. 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.” 

 

June 25, 2026: phytocene, a clean-air-aware singer, songwriter, and producer will host a mask-required album release party in Paris for her new album. RSVP for tickets.

April 6, 2026:  The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative reports that the U.S. has exited the 12th wave of COVID-19. Levels are lower nationally than any time in the past year. COVID-19 wastewater levels continue to be very high in Mississippi and Tennessee. 

 

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April 6, 2026: The Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health reports that the number of new measles cases in the U.S. this week has dropped to its lowest level this year. This week, 39 new measles cases were reported in 11 states, which is 70 fewer than were reported last week (109). This is the fewest number of cases reported in a week so far in 2026. Utah reported 23 new measles cases over the past week, the fewest reported there in five weeks. Last week, Utah reported the most new cases of measles (73) within a week since the outbreak there began in August 2025 along the Arizona/Utah border.

 

April 6, 2026: Bangladesh is conducting an emergency measles-rubella vaccination program after more than 100 children died of measles in the past month. 

 

April 6, 2026: From an article in The Conversation: The latest New Zealand Health Survey shows that over 200,000 New Zealanders now have Long COVID. "The survey findings are concerning. The accepted definition of a rare disease is one case in 2,000 people. If a condition is more common than that, the number of people affected becomes high enough to need specific health services. The long COVID prevalence of 9.2% of all adults in New Zealand is more than a hundred times greater than this rare-disease threshold. The practical implications are clear. Long COVID is a health burden which must be addressed by specific health-service resources." 

 

April 7, 2026: Around four in ten respondents in a survey of adults in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland say they are experiencing smell and/or taste disorders. Overall, 40 percent of respondents reported at least one symptom, with odor intolerance (29%), phantosmia (odor perceptions without real cause, 27%) and parosmia (altered odor perception, 19%) most common.

 

April 8, 2026: You can just print an air purifier. Hobbyist Chris Person wrote: “For a long time I’ve wanted another air purifier for my home…I could theoretically just get another used air purifier — there’s no shortage of ones that people and governments bought during the peak of the pandemic, and you can often find them on Facebook marketplace and government surplus sites.  But that is neither fun nor interesting, and lord knows I love a little project. What’s more, the technology to create air purifiers has gotten far more interesting over the last few years.”

 

April 9, 2026: Long COVID could cost OECD countries €116 billion per year over the next decade. The long-term illness impacting some people who suffered a COVID-19 infection, known as long COVID, could cost OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries a total of $135 billion (almost €116 billion) per year over the next decade. This is "comparable to the entire annual health budget of the Netherlands or Spain," a new report by the OECD noted. This March marked six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to impact the global economy. Millions of people still suffer from long COVID, a condition that costs healthcare systems billions of euros and strains labor markets.

 

April 9, 2026: The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, has delayed publication of a CDC report showing the COVID-19 vaccine cut the likelihood of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for healthy adults last winter by about half, according to two scientists familiar with the decision. The scientists spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.  

on the lighter side…

Credit: The Vertlartnic

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