Melissa Mazur is a first wave COVID long hauler who got sick in March 2020 and never got better..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 17, 2026, with news of an upcoming Zoom discussion about traveling while being clean-air-aware on May 5th, 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 discussion about mask blocs that we'd planned for April 19. We hope to reschedule that discussion for a later time. Our next community discussion will be on Tuesday, May 5, at noon ET, about traveling while being clean-air-aware. Summer travel season is coming up and we know folks have questions about how they can travel safely. Confirmed guest speakers include COVID advocate Keith Muise, mask advocate Daniel Kinder, and Mask Together America founder Julie Lam. 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, co-hosted with Air Support Project, on “COVID, Clean Air, and the Performing Arts”. Our guests were artists phytocene and Nina Wildflower, who talked about their experiences with being clean-air-aware while they're on stage, 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 suggestions 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 her 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. This five-minute-long video is both touching and hilarious as Storey tries to stay optimistic with all the healthcare issues affecting her. 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, featuring online performances and events that are all free to the public. Remaining events include an open-mic night on April 17, a new one-hour comedy special from stand-up comic Ron Placone on April 18, a screening of “Wake Up and Smell the COVID” also on April 18, and a reading from the book “Wayside” on April 19. See their RSVP form for the full event listing and to register to virtually attend the events.

Ongoing Meetings

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.

 

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.

 

Tuesdays meetings are at 6PM ET, and Saturday meetings are at 11AM ET. These will be virtual gatherings where folks can co-work, plan projects, center disability justice, and hold optional check-ins. Full info at Celebrate845.com/COVIDCreativeCoalition. 

 

The folks at The Little Zoom Writers Room host a weekly co-writing space open to all COVID realists. Check their welcome page for more info.

 

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.

 

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.

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

 

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

 

April 28, 2026: The Sick Times will host a webinar on “Following COVID-19 Data”. This webinar will help you find data on COVID-19 and other pathogens in your area, and interpret those data to inform safety measures for you and your community. Managing editor Betsy Ladyzhets will share how she writes The Sick Times’ weekly U.S. COVID-19 data updates. She’ll be joined by guests Caitlin Rivers, an infectious disease epidemiologist who directs the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation at Johns Hopkins and runs the outbreak newsletter Force of Infection; and Tea Burns, a nurse and first aid instructor with Action Readiness Collective of NYC (ARC-NYC). Register in advance.

 

May 5, 2026: PHAN and Air Support Project will host an online forum about traveling while being clean-air-aware. See the item above. 

 

May 5, 2026: Clean Air in Schools symposium hosted by the American Lung Association. This free online event takes place from noon to 3:30 pm ET. 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 in the US, only four states have moderate or higher transmission: Vermont (moderate) and Oklahoma, Mississippi, and West Virginia (high). During this relative “lull,” an estimated 1.9 million Americans are getting infected per week, resulting in significant morbidity and 500-800 eventual excess deaths.

 

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April 13, 2026: Long COVID may increase your  heart disease risk. Long COVID was associated with a substantially higher risk for new-onset cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery disease, in both women and men, with additional risks for heart failure and peripheral arterial disease in women.
 

April 14, 2026: Research suggests that Long COVID is being significantly underreported. Reporter Jamie Ducharme at The Sick Times writes: "A 2025 study of 1.8 million London residents found that just 0.33% had a Long COVID diagnosis in their primary care records, despite previous government estimates that around 3% of the U.K. population has Long COVID. And that’s in a wealthy country with a national health system. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where Long COVID takes a disproportionately severe toll but has been called a ‘hidden public health crisis,’ the problem seems to be even worse."

 

April 16, 2026: The first diagnosed case of measles in San Francisco since 2019 has been reported. "San Francisco health officials Monday confirmed the city’s first measles case in seven years after an unvaccinated infant was diagnosed with the disease."  Children typically receive their first MMR vaccines at 12-15 months old.

 

April 16, 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 is up somewhat from last week but is at its second lowest level this year. During the past week, 44 new measles cases were reported in nine states across the US, a slight increase compared to the 39 reported last week. Measles outbreaks in the US have now been ongoing for more than 14 months, with 1,933 total cases reported in 2026 and 2,129 cases reported in 2025. 

 

April 16, 2026: The Pandemic Center's director Jennifer Nuzzo writes about a recent Politico poll claiming to show that a plurality of Americans do not trust vaccines. “What are we to make of a new national poll reporting that nearly half of all Americans don’t trust vaccines to be safe and effective? Well, count me as concerned but skeptical. It’s notable that this Politico poll is qualitatively different from polls conducted by groups like KFF and Pew Research Center with long-term expertise in constructing and fielding surveys on health issues. Those polls have repeatedly shown most Americans believe vaccines are safe and effective. And, that most Americans believe parents have a duty to vaccinate their children to protect them and their community. Why the difference? Methodology is likely an explanation. Experts have pointed out that the construct of the Politico poll likely overestimated worries about vaccines.”

 

April 17, 2026: From Food and Wine Magazine: Can’t Taste Like You Used To? COVID-19 May Be the Reason — Even Years Later. In a small study, patients reporting long-term taste changes showed molecular disruptions and structural irregularities in their taste buds.

on the lighter side…

Credit: The Vertlartnic

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