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Tania J. Spencer

@taniaspencer.bsky.social
5.4K followers 5.6K following 9.9K posts

🇨🇦🇿🇦 • writer • photographer • social anthropology • former journalist • Long COVID first waver • vaxxer • masker • maker of Corsi-Rosenthals • Antifa, obviously 📌 Whitehorse, YT

PostsRepliesMedia
Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
On #Hiatus
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
1/ Finally, the erasure, denial, & stigmatizing of #LongCOVID by all governments everywhere, bears fruit: "The findings are at odds with previous surveys suggesting that 4.5% to 6.5% of older adults experience long COVID" -
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
"No further details about the nature of her illness have been provided" - Of course not. www.cbc.ca/sports/olymp...
cbc.ca
Summer McIntosh withdraws from Canadian swim trials due to illness | CBC Sports
Summer McIntosh scratched the 400-metre freestyle final at the Canadian swimming trials due to illness after competing in the heats Tuesday morning. She will not compete in any other events this week ...
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
1/ "The warning signs are flashing red. Increased conflict & cuts to global aid funding have dismantled defenses at exactly the wrong moment. The lesson from every previous outbreak is clear: delays cost lives" -
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 08/07/2026
Healthcare workers at the epicenter of Congo's Ebola outbreak are walking off their jobs to protest delays in their payments.
bit.ly
Some health workers in Congo's Ebola outbreak go on strike over pay issues as deaths near 600
Healthcare workers at the epicenter of Congo’s Ebola outbreak are walking off their jobs to protest delays in their payments.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
"As of Monday, wearing a mask at a protest is a criminal offence in England & Wales. This is now the law" - In an #OngoingPandemic of an injurious, #AirborneVirus, now in its 7th year, with #NEIS. #Speechless
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
And in 🇨🇦 Canada too - @cmadocs.bsky.social, @royalcollege.bsky.social @ipaccanada.bsky.social @jossreimer.bsky.social Please reconsider your unswerving adherence to #DropletDogma, in the 7th year of this #OngoingPandemic of an injurious, #AirborneVirus, still with #NEIS - #PrecautionaryPrinciple
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Sounds like it's time to delete my #Instagram accounts (not that there is much content left anyway) -
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Kristin Meekes @kmeekes.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Medsky, it’s way past time to put your mask back on. Enough is enough.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Once again, @cmadocs.bsky.social, @royalcollege.bsky.social @ipaccanada.bsky.social, & @jossreimer.bsky.social, please read & reconsider your unswerving adherence to #DropletDogma, in the 7th year of this #OngoingPandemic of an injurious, #AirborneVirus, still with #NEIS - #PrecautionaryPrinciple
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
If #PublicHealth can so effectively convey the message to the public that they should only mask when ill, PH could just as easily (& more effectively) tell people to mask (with #N95s) BEFORE they get sick. And stop an #OngoingPandemic in its tracks - #ArsyVersy #Prevention #PublicHealthIsDead
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Andrea Is Sick of Long Covid @andreastudiescovid.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
He who has not long COVID shall win the Tour de France.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹
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Becky Ancira Robertson @ancirabecky.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
www.cidrap.umn.edu/misc-emergin... *Keep in mind- Long Covid is now the number 1 chronic condition in children exceeding asthma.
cidrap.umn.edu
Kids with chronic conditions at greater risk for serious respiratory tract infections, study finds
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"Additionally, the indirect economic costs of long COVID are set to far outweigh the associated healthcare costs from 2025 to 2035". Read that again. 2035.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Apparently the world is connected after all, & #USAID is not charity but self-preservation 💡 "Survey finds significant number of those are Trump supporters, with 72 per cent also backing the restoration of some or all global health funding worldwide" - www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
independent.co.uk
75% of Americans want Trump to reverse US aid cuts over Ebola outbreak, poll finds
Survey finds significant number of those are Trump supporters, with 72 per cent also backing the restoration of some or all global health funding worldwide
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 07/07/2026
Elon Musk’s demolition of USAID, and the resulting suffering and death, “is going to be a defining part of his legacy, and I do wonder if that’s why he’s scrambling so hard to rewrite that history now," @jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social told me: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
What will define Elon Musk’s legacy? Doge cuts to USAID Ebola programs
Experts say cuts have hindered the response to DRC’s Ebola outbreak and resulted in ‘significant numbers’ of deaths
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
1/ "All we know is her first symptoms were extreme vision loss three weeks after she got mild Covid and this has progressed this year to mobility issues" Hint: It's NOT #FND, it's #COVID -
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
1/ One day when the grandchildren of today's #PublicHealth officials ask "what did you do during the Great #COVID Pandemic" (of 2019 to forever), you'll be able to say that what you did, is the reason they write books about you now!
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
1/ This will also help prevent infections of all #Airborne viruses for all kids (in an #OngoingPandemic of an injurious virus, still ignored by all governments) -
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
It's a collective psychopathy, which treats disabled people, elderly people and people with long-term conditions as disposable. We see it in the Covid-19 pandemic. We see it in the heatwaves. Their deaths are inconvenient reminders that a favoured policy is disastrous. So they must be dismissed.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 06/07/2026
Congo says confirmed Ebola cases rise to 1,561, including 506 deaths reut.rs/4xWUXEG
reut.rs
Congo says confirmed Ebola cases rise to 1,561, including 506 deaths
The ​Democratic Republic ‌of ​Congo ​said late ⁠on ​Sunday ​that confirmed ​Ebola ​cases in the ‌country ⁠had reached ​1,561, ​including ⁠506 ​deaths.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
1/ I've got such mixed feelings about this essay. While I appreciate the layers of meaning & literary aspects, I'm wary of treating as gift, an instrument of survival: narrative - www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
theguardian.com
Susanna Clarke: ‘I had been ill for 11 years. I felt like I was about to fall off the world’
One hundred years after Virginia Woolf explored the limitations of language in On Being Ill, the Piranesi author reflects on the power of storytelling to shape our experience of sickness
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Adrenalynn (she/her) @adrenalyn.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
"6 years have gone by since the start of the COVID pandemic. For many GPs the pandemic will have receded well into the past. For some of us it is still our perpetual present. COVID has not gone away, people are still getting infected & there will be some who are developing new-onset Long COVID now"
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
* Find a doctor wearing an #N95, running a #HEPA, with the window open. That'll be a doctor well read on #COVID & #LongCOVID -
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Long Covid Advocacy @longcovidadvoc.com · 05/07/2026
We have two treats in store: 1. An excellent article by writer @tedmonroe91.bsky.social on Levinovitz & the brain retrainers. 2. A giveaway of 'On Being Ill' by Woolf with 12 new essays by modern writers, including one on Long Covid by Ted! Just like & comment VIRGINIA to enter 🎁 #booksky
Promotional graphic with a muted gray engraving-style background showing an elderly hooded figure embracing a younger person, with a medieval city skyline behind them. In the upper right is the cover of *On Being Ill* by Virginia Woolf with the text: “feat. Ted’s essay!” An arrow points to the book with the words “Signed copy” and “with Giveaway.” The main text reads: “ARTICLE BY TED MONROE: ‘That agony returns’: What Coleridge’s ancient mariner can teach us about the Long Covid brain re-trainers.” At the bottom: “Excellent commentary reflecting on Alan Levinovitz’s WIRED piece.”
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Ted Monroe @tedmonroe91.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
My essay on #LongCovid is published in this delightful edition of On Being Ill, with Woolf’s original essay and essays and poetry from 11 contemporary writers. Book out 2nd June
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
1/ If a #COVID infection leaves someone's sense of taste or smell altered, this is a neurological symptom, & there is no certainty that the person is "otherwise healthy" - @daniellebeckman.bsky.social @thewhn.bsky.social
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
1/ As many may have noticed, the 🇨🇦 Canadian media landscape has undergone a profound shift to the right -
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The Vertlartnic @thev.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Long Covid Unlikely To Explain Increase In People Too Ill To Work, Because That Would Be Too Obvious, Say Experts
A graph
Headline:
Long Covid Unlikely To Explain Increase In People Too Ill To Work, Because That Would Be Too Obvious, Say Experts
Story by Gravel Bardsley and Melvin Bertenshawk

photo from Unsplash
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Same goes for an #OngoingPandemic of an injurious #AirborneVirus, now in it's 7th year, & still ignored by all governments - ##PublicHealthIsDead
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Sadly, yes. We're seeing this question asked more often now. A friend in California - a fitness/workout kind of guy - just emailed me to ask me if I thought his new onset "systemic fatigue" might be related to a COVID infection. Another friend popped up in a Long COVID support group I am in.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Try this link - fable.co/club/cripade...
fable.co
Fable | Stories for everyone
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Baby Ruthless @baby-ruthless.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
i sometimes wonder if the reason why celebrities in the 80s and 90s could openly support AIDS research is because they had no personal risk. Long covid can affect anyone. This means if you talk about it you *must* be personally affected, and this means the stigma falls on any altruist too.
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The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 04/07/2026
As one of the only newsrooms still reporting on the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we often hear from readers about how much our work matters to them. If it matters to you too, please help us reach our goal of 200 new monthly Supporters. the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/
ID: Text bubbles on cartoon Solarpunk backgrounds. One is green-themed and one is orange-themed. The Comments reads, “I’m a scientist and want to support sharing factual research with the public.” “Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for your critical role in covering this ongoing pandemic.” “Long COVID is barely covered in mainstream media. You cover it from a disability-affirming perspective.” “If the medical establishment won’t care about ME, someone needs to compel them, and your work does that.” “Text bubbles on cartoon Solarpunk backgrounds. One is green-themed and one is orange-themed. The Comments read “This work is so critical, whether people want to admit it or not.” “The Sick Times provides solidarity and essential information for collective survival in the pandemic.” “Your great reporting = hope & support.” “You do such 
important journalism on public health information & advocacy, centering Disabled voices, and you pay your workers fairly!”
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Reuters @reuters.com · 03/07/2026
Congo says number of confirmed Ebola cases rises to 1,502 reut.rs/4wmuSxb
reut.rs
Congo says number of confirmed Ebola cases rises to 1,502
The number ​of confirmed ‌Ebola cases in ​the Democratic ​Republic of Congo ⁠has ​increased to ​1,502, including 473 deaths, ​government ​data showed on ‌Friday.
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Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
#Ebola update: As if 7/2, DRC has confirmed 1502 Ebola cases; 473 of those people have died. That's 42 additional cases. 11,360 case contacts have been identified; 82% of them are being followed. insp.cd/sitrep-n049-...
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
1/ "But we can no longer afford the competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work" - ☝️So maybe deal with the #OngoingPandemic of an injurious #Airborne virus, now in its 7th untrammelled year, & still harming workers? Or carry on ignoring it. #SunkCostFallacy
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
1/ "A recent imaging study in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health identified metabolic dysfunction in the brains of people with #LongCOVID who experience #PEM": Via @mileswgriffis.bsky.social & @thesicktimes.org journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 03/07/2026
"Before I started working at The Sick Times as your friendly neighborhood engagement editor, I let every medical professional I met bulldoze me." Read more from our engagement editor @heatherhogan.bsky.social about fighting Long COVID denial at work and in her personal life. shorturl.at/ZCoBe
A photo of a butch lesbian in glasses, a baseball cap, a flannel shirt, and a black respirator. A quote box to her right reads, I have adopted The Sick Times motto as my own personal healthcare mantra: No denial. 
No minimizing. 
No gaslighting.

We apply it, every day, to the way we cover the Long COVID crisis; and now, I apply it to the way I walk through the world.

Heather Hogan
Engagement Editor
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
In 🇨🇦 Canada we can no longer get the #BBC. I could use a #VPN to read it, but then I'd have to really value the calibre of their journalism, which I don't. So like many, I have just deleted the BBC app & moved on. And besides, @theguardian.com has @georgemonbiot.bsky.social -
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
1/ Who knew #LongCOVID was such an easy fix: all you need is a 10-week "cognitive rehabilitation" programme to help you learn to set better (much, much lower) goals. And you'll “get control of life” -
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
If you are fortunate enough not to be bedridden with #LongCOVID, but can no longer ride your bike due to fatigue & muscle damage (e.g. #COVID destroyed my quadriceps) - I highly recommend an e-bike for those who can afford one. It will put the wind back in your hair, & some joy in your heart too ❤️‍🩹
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
1/ Calls for African solidarity, from a president who did little to prevent recent xenophobic attacks on other Africans in his country, to expediently deflect from his own government's decades old failure to meet the needs of impoverished 🇿🇦 South Africans - www.africanews.com/2026/07/03/e...
africanews.com
Ebola: Ramaphosa urges solidarity with Congo in visit to Kinshasa | Africanews
During a visit to Kinshasa, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed "solidarity" and "condolences" with the DR Congo as the death toll climbs above 400
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Health Policy Watch - Global health news reporting @healthpolicywatch.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
A @who.int -sponsored trial has begun in DRC’s Ituri province to test two antiviral therapies for #Ebola Bundibugyo — but the site is being kept secret amid attacks on treatment centres and growing insecurity. ✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk 📰➡️ healthpolicy-watch.news/ebola-antivi...
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
"We have never seen an epidemic increase as fast as this one. This is massive" - @msf.ca
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European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control @ecdc.europa.eu · 03/07/2026
Update of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in DRC & Uganda - 3 July: --- DRC: On 2 July, DRC reported a total of 1460 confirmed cases and 452 deaths. 54 new cases & 14 deaths were reported since the last update. --- EU/EEA: 1 confirmed case reported in France on 24 June.
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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
The anti-vax group formerly led by Robert Kennedy Jr. has been promoting the story of a woman who says vaccines killed her 18-month-old twins. She’s the lead plaintiff in the group’s lawsuit against the American Academy of Pediatrics. Well, now she’s been charged with suffocating the toddlers.
importantcontext.news
Plaintiff in Children’s Health Defense Lawsuit Charged With Murder
A mother who blamed vaccines for the deaths of her toddler twins and joined the anti-vax group’s lawsuit against the American Academy of Pediatrics has been charged with murdering her children.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
1/ While trying to find a copy of Zoë Wicomb's essay on South African artist Fanozi Mkhize (aka "Chickenman"), I discover the sad news that Zoë died 7 months ago of a pulmonary embolism - www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
theguardian.com
Zoë Wicomb obituary
South African-Scottish author admired for her first book You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, a collection of short stories
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
But nary a mention of #COVID or #LongCOVID. Just another "mysterious" medical condition suddenly afflicting a fit, young person, during an #OngoingPandemic of a virus known to cause this -
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