Open Letter to the Mayor of Los Angeles
July 19, 2024
Sent via email to: mayor.scheduling@lacity.org
ATTN: Mayor Karen Bass
City of Los Angeles
200 N. Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
United States
Re: SARS-CoV-2
Dear Mayor Bass,
We, The World Health Network (WHN), are an international organization of scientists, clinicians, lawyers, engineers, community advocates and members of other related disciplines, studying and monitoring the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, committed to reduce the global burden of illness resulting from this virus. We strive to support and guide individuals, organizations, governments and businesses to adopt measures that enable them to flourish despite the changed health landscape resulting from the continued presence of SARS-CoV-2.
We have been made aware that you have recently contracted SARS-CoV-2. We wish you a speedy recovery and urge you to rest during your convalescence, and to avoid exercise during the weeks following your recovery in order to lower your risk of developing chronic illness from your infection, namely Long COVID.
From the work performed by researchers affiliated to our organization and by others studying the impact of COVID on the population, it has become apparent that COVID can cause a long list of chronic issues within the years following an infection. For instance, a COVID infection can increase the risk of ischemia, heart attacks, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, ischemic strokes, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, type 1 and 2 Diabetes, adrenal insufficiency, disruption of the menstrual cycle, thyroid disease, Cushing’s disease, to name a few. We refer you to the following review paper, prepared by researchers affiliated to our organization, presenting a snapshot of the scientific literature surrounding the long term conditions that follow a COVID infection: Ewing et al., “Review of Organ Damage from COVID and Long COVID: a disease with a spectrum of pathology”, De Gruyter, Medical Review, https://doi.org/10.1515/mr-2024-0030.
Moreover, the risk of developing Long COVID and certain of the conditions mentioned above increases with every COVID infection. As such, we strongly urge you to avoid contracting COVID again in the future, at least in the near future. A particularly effective means of avoiding COVID is by wearing an N95 mask (a respirator) when indoors or in crowded outdoor spaces, such as in large gatherings. Therefore, masks, and particularly respirators such as N95 masks, remain a crucial tool in avoiding a COVID infection and the diseases that manifest following the infection, as listed above. As such, access to masks to protect our health, where these masks should be encouraged and not banned, should be favored to continue to deal with the threat of COVID.
We wish you a speedy and full recovery and hope that you succeed in avoiding a future infection.
We remain at your disposal to answer any questions that you may have regarding masks and the present letter.
Respectfully yours,
The World Health Network
