Behind the FFP2 EN 149 mask is Arjan Eikelenboom (@aartjacob) sharing his Ondine-like experience when he contracted COVlD early in the pandemic in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After the initial acute symptoms subsided, Arjan nearly succumbed to hypoxia. Photo credit: Mask Together America.

Greetings, public health PHANs! We hope you're having a healthy and safe year so far. This is our monthly newsletter for May 1, 2026, with news of our  upcoming Zoom discussion on May 5 about traveling while being clean-air-aware, publication of our first podcast episode, update on the proposals we received for our recent Request for Proposals, community spotlights on singer-songwriter phytocene and Clean Air Allies' video contest; plus events related to COVID and clean air, 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.

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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 you may have questions about how they can travel safely. Confirmed guest speakers include COVID advocate Keith Muise, mask advocate Daniell Kinder, and Mask Together America founder Julie Lam. Register in advance. You'll need a free Zoom account in order to register.

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We're delighted to present our new podcast, Breathe This, which you can watch or listen to on YouTube and Spotify. We'll be talking about clean indoor air, airborne pathogens, how COVID and long COVID have affected individuals and our society, and how you can protect yourself from airborne pathogens, both individually and as a community. 

 

We invite you to check out our introduction where we discuss why we're doing this podcast and the kinds of topics we'll cover. Our first episode is with Mask Together America founder Julie Lam (pictured above), who talks about her experience with COVID and long COVID, how she founded and developed Mask Together America, and what the future of public health messaging looks like.

 

We were thrilled to get to speak with Lam for this session, and we'll have another episode with author and physician Jonathan Howard next week. Let us know what you think about the podcast and if you have ideas for future shows. Please subscribe to help boost our visibility. Thanks for watching and listening!

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In response to our recent request for proposals that would result in measurable reduction of indoor airborne pathogens, we received over a dozen high-quality submissions. We've reviewed all the projects and are currently evaluating them based on feasibility and likelihood of achieving the goal of measurably reducing indoor airborne pathogens. Our next steps are to send first-round diligence questions to applicants and engage a select group of experts to help us evaluate the submissions. We're excited about these proposals and will share more information as we proceed.

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month as well as ME/CFS Awareness Month, and we'll highlight both issues on our social media and newsletters this month. Mental health awareness is important as we all navigate the stresses of living in communities that for the most part do not take clean indoor air seriously as a human right. Many people who are living with the long-term effects of COVID are stressed about their health and their finances if they're unable to work. We encourage everyone who feels the pressure of trying to be clean-air-aware or about dealing with COVID and long COVID to find a mental health professional to help you.

 

ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) is a devastating illness that is sometimes seen with long COVID, although it is not the same thing as long COVID. It can include muscle and joint pain, chronic fatigue, and orthostatic intolerance (difficulty remaining in an upright position). There is no cure, only treatment for symptoms. Learn more about it on our website.

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Our friends at Clean Air Allies recently sponsored a youth video contest to encourage young people to create videos about why clean indoor air in schools is important, and they've announced the winners:

They won $500 (First-Place), $250 (Second-Place), and $150 (Third-Place) gift certificates, funded by donations from Clean Air Allies supporters. Medify Air also generously donated a portable air cleaner to each winner. Watch the videos at the Clean Air Allies website.

Community Spotlight: Singer-songwriter Phytocene To host a Mask-Requested Album Release Party in Paris

On June 25, 2026, phytocene, a clean-air-aware singer-songwriter and producer living in Paris, will host a mask-requested album release party for her new album. From the event website: “On the occasion of the release of her fourth EP, ‘Bird Songs on Power Lines’, phytocene organizes an inclusive release party at Le Petit Bain.” For reasons of the artist’s health and accessibility, mask wearing will be requested inside the room (masks made available at the entrance)." RSVP for tickets.

 

We had a wonderful discussion on April 2 with phytocene, along with Nina Wildflower and Kyle Stevens, about COVID-safe performers and events. You can check out the full recording of the discussion.

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.

 

Every Tuesday & Sunday: WHN hosts weekly Zoom “Kids' Connect Zone” meetings on Tuesdays and Sundays for kids, teens, and families who want to connect through COVID-conscious activities, games, and discussions. Find out more at the WHN website.
 

Saturday meetings are at 11AM ET. Join Celebrate845 on Zoom for COVID Creative Coalition community meetings. No artistic experience required. Great for visual artists, writers, graphic designers, or folks interested in Street Team efforts. “Non-Hudson Valley folks are welcomed to attend, connect & get inspired, but we'll be centering building our efforts in the HV. We are down to host breakout rooms by locale!” More 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.

 

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 6, 2026: Long COVID Justice invites supporters to celebrate the launch of their “Listening for the Long Haul” project, 4:30-6pm ET on Zoom. The project features 100+ hours of interviews with people living with Long COVID and associated conditions. Featured speakers will include project participants Chimére L. Sweeney, The Black Long COVID Experience; Jacquie Luciano, Breathing for Justice; Tracey Thompson, BIRCH (Black Indigenous Racialized Covid Health); and Una Osato, patient advocate & community artist; as well as project coordinators Dr. Jennifer Brier, Kaimara Herron, and Gabriel San Emeterio. Visit their event page for speaker bios, access notes, and more info.

 

May 13, 2026: Join EPA's Healthy and Efficient School Environments Grantees to learn about programs, trainings, resources and funds available to K-12 public, charter, and tribal schools nationwide to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency.  

 

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.

 

May 19, 2026: The Geneva Health Forum, in collaboration with Air Club, the Ministère de la Santé (France), the Pandemic Center at Brown University, and the University of Melbourne, are pleased to announce a high-level symposium: World Health Assembly High-Level Dialogue on Healthy Indoor Air, at the Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM CET. Organized as a side event of the World Health Assembly, this high-level dialogue will bring together global leaders, Ministers of Health, UN agencies, and technical experts to elevate a critical yet under-recognized issue: indoor air quality.

 

May 25-31, 2026: World Mask Week, where everyone is encouraged to commit to mask in public for just one week. This week is a great opportunity to find masks that work for you, to tell friends about masking, to get some extra masks and hand them out, to decorate your masks, and to advocate for mask-friendly standards and policies.

 

May 25, 2026: World Mask Week dance marathon on Twitch. 12-hours of COVID-informed DJ sets! 11:00 AM EST - 11:00 PM EST on Twitch. Follow @MaskWeekMarathon on Instagram and the World Mask Week website for updates. If you'd like to support or co-sponsor this event, please contact organizers here. 

 

May 26, 2026: The Toronto Home Energy Network and Clean Indoor Air Toronto will host a webinar, "Healthy Air at Home: What You Can Monitor, Filter, and Fix", presented by Louise Hidinger, PhD, founder of Clean Indoor Air Toronto.

 

June 9, 2026: The Air We Share: Shaping healthier indoor air quality in Europe and beyond. The IDEAL Cluster Summit in Brussels is bringing together seven Horizon Europe research and innovation projects, over 120 organizations, and more than 50 million in investment, and will convene policymakers, researchers, industry leaders and public authorities to present.
 

June 25, 2026: phytocene, a clean-air-aware singer, songwriter, and producer living in Paris will host a mask-requested album release party in Paris for her new album. See the item above.

April 27, 2026:  The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative reports that estimated SARS-CoV-2 levels are now at their lowest since July 15, 2021. All states and territories have “low” or “very low” transmission, with the exceptions of Mississippi (limited data), Wyoming (limited data), Guam (week old data), and West Virginia (one site reporting). Note that state-level midpoints can obscure within-state variation. As examples, there are several hot spots in Alabama and Texas.

 

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April 27, 2026: According to a phase 2 clinical trial published in JAMA, using azelastine (an antihistamine nasal spray used to treat allergy symptoms and sold under the brand name Astepro Allergy) may help fend off COVID-19 and the common cold.  

 

April 27, 2026: From CIDRAP: South Carolina measles outbreak ends as US cases near 1,800.

 

April 28, 2026: From Medscape: new imaging research suggests that changes in the brain after COVID may contribute to cognitive decline similar to early stages of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and may be predictive of dementia risk, based on data from more than 200 individuals. 

 

April 30, 2026: From CIDRAP: the combination of COVID and severe heart attack confers 25% greater risk of death, data suggest. 

 

April 30, 2026: From CIDRAP: a Public Health Alerts report today describes the detection of measles virus in wastewater in the Chicago area that was linked to a single measles case in the community that same day, “demonstrating that untargeted metagenomics appeared to detect a single measles infection in a large municipal wastewater stream,” according to the authors.

on the lighter side…

Credit: The Vertlartnic

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