This Is Long, But It's Important. Fans Need To Speak Up About Covid.
If you hang out on the fannish aisles of this lovely hellsite, you've most likely already seen Neil Gaiman's screenshot of the Twitter post in which he said that "Covid got him again, and this time it means business." I don't know if your blood ran cold, but mine did. Covid is not the flu or a cold; the risk of disabling long-term disease rises every time you get it; it precipitates heart attacks and strokes; it's associated with multiple sorts of damage to all body systems and known to cause brain damage by fusing neurons together in a dysfunctional mass. Why would you want to take a chance of that happening to anyone, much less a beloved creator or performer whose livelihood involves being in packed indoor spaces with fans?
PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE -- if not the entire (rather long) thing, at least the intermittent out-takes in boldface and the contact information section at the end. TL;DR is: the timing of Neil's infection suggests someone at the first event of his now-interrupted tour infected him; he has asked venues for masking and been refused, then asked attendees to voluntarily mask, which gets at best spotty compliance. The writers and performers who produce the books, concerts and shows you love should not have to beg you for their bodily safety at public appearances. But in-person performers and presenters have been contracting Covid in alarming numbers. This is not sustainable and fans need to wake up and speak up.
The linked article (I'm going to repeatedly link the fuck out of it) asks fans to contact venues and civilly ask for obligatory masking and the use of HEPA air cleaners at events, pointing out that an outlay of $400-700 for air filtration would have most likely protected Neil from what is not his first infection. (Even less expense would have been involved in the construction and use of Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, which are clunky looking but astoundingly efficient compared to commercial HEPA units). You'll find the necessary contact info late in the article, which is written by a passionate fan of David Tennant and Good Omens. Look for this section heading:
What can we do to encourage venues to create safer event spaces?
We can contact the venues themselves, beginning with the ones who likely are not using basic mitigations. These can be any venue where you or one of your favorites will be in attendance.
We can also start with the venues where Neil was scheduled to appear. Here is a list of these venues with the ways to contact them.
If you were one of the people who jumped in to lobby for season 3 of Good Omens, who screened s2 repeatedly to bump its ratings, then for the love of Frances put that same energy into asking that the people who bring your favorite media to life be protected. People may dodge the bullet once, twice, or more, but reinfection with Covid has disabled millions physically and mentally. The people who create the works we love deserve all the protection we can give them; we cannot claim to support them while participating in a fan culture that currently fails at basic protections against a ruinous disease -- one which still kills and maims even the vaccinated. Read the danged article (or skim to the important part about how to speak up); take action before any event you plan to attend, and wear a mask in indoor spaces outside your home. It protects everyone.
EDITED TO ADD: "Mask" means a RESPIRATOR -- one that fits snugly to the face, with an electrostatic layer to trap the virus -- at minimum KN95, N95 best. Try different ones to find your closest fit. Cloth and surgical masks are better than nothing at all -- every reduction in airborne virus helps -- but block only ~50% of virus, while respirators catch ~90%. Yes, good masks cost money, but so does loo roll, soap and other things we consider basic hygiene. We will not get 2019 back and we need to live like we know that.
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