North Carolina wants to tighten mask restrictions. Disabled residents are concerned.

Published by: ABC News
Published on: May 23, 2024
By Kiara Alfonseca

Disabled North Carolina residents say a mask restriction that is under consideration in the state legislature would make it harder for them to access parts of their communities, pushing them back into isolation.

“This law says to them that you are not welcome in our community and we don’t value your presence to accommodate your need to wear a mask,” Tara Muller, a policy attorney at Disability Rights North Carolina, told ABC News.

House Bill 237, dubbed the “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals” bill, would repeal a COVID-19 pandemic exception that allowed people to wear a face mask in public. It allows exceptions for holiday costumes, rituals or ceremonies, theatrical productions, gas masks or employment-based usage, but would remove the ability for someone to wear a mask to ensure “the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.”

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human rights

Feds ‘committed to doing more,’ but minister offers no timeline for Canadian Disability Benefit boost

Published May 12, 2024

Published by: CTV News
Published on: May 12, 2024
By Spencer Van Dyk

Reaction from the disability community has been unanimous that this initial investment creates little impact for removing people with disabilities from poverty. It simply is not enough.

— National Disability Network

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human rights

‘Heart breaks’: Advocates say new disability benefit still leaves people in poverty

Published April 17, 2024

Published by: CityNews / The Canadian Press
Published on: April 17, 2024
By Nicole Ireland, Sarah Ritchie

Advocates say a disability benefit that was supposed to be a historic move to lift people out of poverty turned out to be a disappointment in the federal budget.

The new Canada Disability Benefit will provide a maximum of $2,400 a year—or $200 a month — for low-income people with disabilities.

The benefit is expected to be given to about 600,000 people and won’t kick in until July 2025.

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telework

‘Telework’ Can Be a Life Changer

Published April 2, 2024

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: April 2, 2024
By Brishti Basu

If you are the family member of someone who’s highly immunocompromised, and you’re not able to protect yourself from infection in your workplace and your employer is insisting that you come back and work in an office where people have now shifted to the mindset that [COVID-19] is not that big a deal, if someone gets [sick] and you bring that home, that can be catastrophic.

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the pandemic is not over

COVID Isn’t Going Anywhere. Masking Up Could Save My Life.

Published January 17, 2024

Published by: Teen Vogue
Published on: January 17, 2024
By Alice Wong

The answers lie in poop. Based on the latest national sample of wastewater taken on January 13, 2024, the concentration of the SARS-Cov-2 virus is 1,132 copies/mL of sewage, an alarming increase compared to 280 copies/mL six months ago. This is one sign that cases of COVID infections have been rising, resulting in more hospitalizations, deaths, and people developing long COVID.

Like millions of other high-risk people who are service workers, older, chronically ill, disabled, or immunocompromised, I have done everything I can to remain as safe as possible. Due to neuromuscular disability and respiratory failure, my chances of surviving an infection are slim to none. With the latest JN.1 variant likely even more contagious – or better practiced at evading immune system defenses – than previous ones, I wonder if this is the surge when I will become infected, which is terrifying.

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activism

Long Covid advocates face challenges, potential discrimination with billboard campaigns

Published January 9, 2024

Published by: The Sick Times
Published on: January 9, 2024
By Simon Spichak

Covid-19 is still infecting and reinfecting millions of people around the world — causing more and more people to develop Long Covid. But public health and government agencies worldwide have failed to warn people about Long Covid and support those affected, and still aren’t effectively funding research to find effective treatments.

In response to the lack of support, people with Long Covid in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Europe are buying billboard ads to raise awareness about the disease and promote the urgent need for clinical trials. These billboards aim to do the job of public health authorities, advocates who spoke to The Sick Times explained.

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Tag: disabilities