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“I wear a mask for health protection and because my mom has health issues.”— Behind the KN95 is AZ Beach. COVlD cases are rising. Masking is an act of self-love and community care. Photo courtesy Mask Together America.

Weekly Newsletter, September 25, 2026

Greetings, public health PHANs! We hope you're having a healthy and safe September so far.  Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! This awareness month starts on September 15 and runs through to October 15. We recognize that COVID and chronic illness has hit the U.S. Hispanic community especially hard, and we're working to support Hispanic community groups in Chicago and elsewhere.

 

If you're new to PHAN, our mission is to reduce indoor airborne pathogens and to establish the right to clean indoor air as a human right, by:

 

In this week's issue:

If you have news or events that would be pertinent to our newsletter, or feedback on the newsletter or PHAN's work, email us at info@phan.global. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Next Zoom event → Thursday, October 8th. Clean Air Inside the Actors Studio

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Join us and Air Support Project on October 8th at 1pm ET for a discussion on clean air in the acting profession, with our guests, actors Terri Lynne Hudson and Cathryn Hartt. We'll talk about how COVID has impacted actors and crew in the movie, TV, and theater industries; what kinds of mitigation or lack of mitigations our guests have experienced; and what the future of being clean-air-aware looks like for everyone in the acting community and their audiences. We love both of these guests and are thrilled to host them. Register in advance. 

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The recording from our terrific Zoom discussion about the Canadian COVID response is now on YouTube. Our guests for this discussion, were Stephane Bilodeau, PhD, editor and chairman of the Covid Action Group at the World Health Network; Chantal Moore, science communicator, writer, and epidemiology graduate student; and Malgorzata Gasperowicz, PhD, developmental biologist and researcher in Alberta, and co-founder of ZeroCOVIDCanada.org.

Mask Together America founder Julie Lam at the #ClimateWeek "Healthy Air in NYC Schools" event, learning about the projected impacts of implementing ASHRAE Standard 241, with ventilation, filtration, and real-time AQ reporting. Pictured here: Dr. Bronwyn King, H Newlevant, Venessa Sica Kasabach, and Julie Lam.  Photo courtesy Mask Together America.

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The United Nations General Assembly hosted a high-level side event yesterday on "Healthy Indoor Air for Schools: Every Breath Shapes Learning." Schools are a critical vector for stopping airborne pathogens, as there are few other environments where so many people across a wide range of ages sit communally in enclosed spaces for extended periods of time, possibly with no filtration or ventilation. Poor indoor air harms children and their educational development, as well as harming educators and staff.

 

This talk was opened by Dr. Bronwyn King and Dr. Georgia Lagoudas, co-founders of Air Club. Several public health advocates were there and reported back on social media, including Julie Lam (above), founder of Mask Together America; and Lucky Tran, MD, who posted a 30-second clip of Dr. Bronwyn King. The full event recording is available via UN Web TV. 

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The Safer Air Project will host the Safer Shared Air: Indoor Air, Health & Productivity Conference, to be held in Canberra, Australia, in-person and online on October 28 / October 27 (Americas). PHAN is a gold sponsor for this conference and we encourage everyone interested in clean air to attend in person or online. 

 

The full-day conference will include over a dozen public health and policy experts, as well as representatives from the Australian government, who will speak on indoor air quality as a silent driver of chronic disease; the economic opportunities that exist; and how we can translate the evidence into world-leading, national reform. Attend in-person or online. In-person registration closes October 20, 2026. Online registration is free (with donations requested to fund this conference and future events) and closes at the conclusion of the conference. In-person attendance for community members is also being offered for free.

 

Plum Stone, the director of the Safer Air Project, has been working hard to make clean-air data more accessible, turn clean-air research into policies, then get those policies in front of the politicians. We're hopeful that her work in Australia can be replicated and adapted for other countries.

Long COVID: Voices of Resilience - Online, October 9

PHAN is co-sponsoring an important forum produced by Mask Together America in October: “Long COVID: Voices of Resilience”, a forum of Black authors who've written about their experience with Long COVID. The event takes place on October 9, 2026, at 5pm ET. Register in advance.

 

The event will be hosted by Sarah Cahill and Julie Lam, with Becky Ancira Robertson (@beckyancirar), and Victoria Coble (@coble.victoria), founder of @COVIDActionGSO,

acting as emcees. Guests will include: 

We encourage all public health and COVID-safe advocates to read the works of these authors. Until we address systemic bias and ensure equitable healthcare access, historically marginalized patients will continue to face clinical neglect and exclusion from life-changing clinical trials.

The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) creates a weekly COVID-19 “heatmap” based on CDC wastewater data and levels (U.S.). The PMC is led by Michael Hoerger, PhD, MSCR, MBA.

September 21, 2026: From the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative: “The US has at least 40 states and territories with COVlD outbreaks. These include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawai'i, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

"Levels on the Big Island of Hawai’i are particularly high. Note also, the NYC area is seeing outbreaks.”
 

September 22, 2026: From the Taipei Times: Taiwan's Ministry of Environment said it is proposing revisions to the Indoor Air Quality Management Act, including stricter regulations for facilities serving young children and older adults, with standardized monitoring requirements. and adjusted requirements for dedicated indoor air quality personnel according to the size of a facility. 

 

September 23, 2026: From CIDRAP: According to a new study by the CDC and Illinois public health officials, a measles outbreak at two Chicago homeless shelters in 2024 had an "estimated societal cost" of nearly $9 million.

 

September 23, 2026: From Twitter and Bluesky: “Denis The COVID Info Guy” reported that COVID cases in Thailand have jumped 118% in one week over the previous week (source). After several weeks of 15-17,000 new weekly cases, last week the reported weekly case number was over 34,000.

 

September 23, 2026: From CIDRAP: More than one in ten U.S. healthcare workers reports ongoing long-COVID symptoms. 

September 24,2026: From CIDRAP: After a nearly month-long delay, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now allowing states to order updated COVID-19 shots for the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program that serves more than half of all U.S. children.

 

September 24, 2026: From CIDRAP: Pennsylvania tops 800 measles cases as CDC acknowledges only one measles death. The state has reported four recent “measles-associated” deaths that the CDC has refused to list on its dashboard. 

 

 

September 29, 2026: IWBI Healthy Building Policy Summit 2026, Washington, D.C., 9am-6pm, in-person only. The Summit will explore how policy is increasingly driving outcomes at the intersection of health, sustainability, and performance. 

 

October 8, 2026: PHAN and ASP to host a Zoom discussion about clean air in the actors studio. See item above.

 

October 9, 2026: : “Long COVID: Voices of Resilience”, hosted by Mask Together America. See item above.

 

October 28/27, 2026: Safer Shared Air: Indoor Air, Health & Productivity Conference, in Canberra, Australia, and online, hosted by the Safer Air Project. See item above.

 

November 5, 2026 in Austin, Texas: WELL 2026 Summit Austin from the International Well Building Institute. 

From Mask Bloc Toronto: Monster Mask, a Halloween mask-required event in Toronto

We're excited about all the social media posts about mask-required events for Halloween we've seen. We know it's a little early for Halloween, but these events seem to be a great outlet for mask-wearing folks. If you have a mask-required event you'd like us to include in the newsletter, tag us in your Instagram post: @publichealthactionnetwork

 

Every week theater journalist Charles Lewis III publishes a comprehensive list of COVID-safe events and performances in the San Francisco Bay Area on his Patreon.

 

Last Saturday of every month in the SF Bay Area: Masked Hangout. Once a month, airborne-aware folks in the South Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area meet at 15980 Blossom Hill Rd in Los Gatos for games, puzzles, coloring, and socializing. Email SouthBayMaskedEvents@gmail.com for details and to be added to the mailing list.

 

Monthly in San Francisco: Infinite Wrench. SF Neo-Futurists hosts Infinite Wrench mask-required performances on the first Saturday of each month. Infinite Wrench is a set of 30 plays in 60 minutes, new plays every week. While audience members will be required to stay masked throughout the show, performers may invite select audience members to unmask for plays that involve audience participation. All performers test weekly for COVID-19 and extra masks will be available for those who need them. Upcoming masked shows: Sept 5, Oct 3, Nov 7.

 

Streaming online trough November 28, 2026: Hystericalfest: women+ ACT out.

A series of short comedies on Women+ & Invisible Disabilities. Tickets available with a suggested donation of $10. With ASL and closed captioning options. Produced by Violet Surprise Theatre, Terri Lynne Hudson (consulting), & Hysterical Productions/Paula Kamen. This is a recording of a live performance that ran Friday, August 28, 2026.

 

Weekly online open-mic events with Nina Wildflower: Ben Collins, who performs as Nina Wildflower, hosts a weekly online open mic for COVID-informed performers, via the Facebook group "Still Coviding - Virtual Meetups" (private group, apply for membership). Sign up for weekly emails at ninawildflower@yahoo.com.

 

COVID Safe Art Collective meets online every Sunday for pro-mask adults who want to make art together.

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 supporters that meet Monday evenings, plus Sunday mornings for church services. Contact them via Reddit.

 

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.
 

Join Celebrate845 on Zoom for COVID Creative Coalition community meetings on Saturdays at 11AM ET. No artistic experience required. More info at Celebrate845.com/COVIDCreativeCoalition. 

 

Every Saturday: 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 organizers at The Little Zoom Writers Room host a weekly co-writing space open to all COVID realists. Check their welcome page for more info or their account on Instagram.

 

The COVID-Safe Art Collective holds an online gathering every Sunday at 2:30pm PT / 4:30pm CT / 5:30pm ET until 4pm PT / 6pm CT / 8pm ET for COVID-safe adults to create art or just chat and be with other aware people. Check their Linktree for the current Zoom link.

 

Molly was a professional actor and clown for 30 years in Chicago, and has had fellowships as well as guest lecture and teaching artist positions all over the country. She hosts an in-person and remote class once a month about how to create theatrical performances in a respirator. Sign up for her mailing list to get the remote link.

on the lighter side…

Credit: The Vertlartnic

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