1/When we come out of this MB lockdown I think there needs to be an understanding that people are not going to just say no to risky situations, or even necessarily understand if a situation is risky (as with sex and drug use).

2/There are lots of reasons for this - it is nice (essential actually) to see people, we can't always make choices about avoiding people (workplaces, roommates, people close to us making riskier choices than we do) and pandemic fatigue (and more) will all play into this.

3/So, like with sex and drug use, people will need to have better information about how covid transmission works and where it is most likely to happen, along with what measures are going to work to help reduce risks for ourselves, but also for others we come into contact with.

4/It's not a perfect analogy, but the general point is that harm reduction/risk reduction language and concepts exist already and work. The wheel doesn't need to be reinvented here. We will likely need to really amp up information about how our personal risks can impact others.

5/If bars and restaurants and especially indoor gatherings are going to be allowed, we need information and education to flow about how to make these scenarios as safe as possible. Other places are doing this through risk charts and giving recommendations on reducing that risk.

6/Again, the wheel doesn't need to be reinvented. But it may need to be adapted to local contexts and shared widely in ways that will be most understandable. Education on how personal risks carry forward to others might be the trickiest part for folks to understand.

7/People cannot be shamed for doing things that are allowed going forward. And if the government is not doing this education, I think communities are going to need to do it for themselves, using the best available and most trustworthy information.

8/I learned a lot from those who fought through the AIDS crisis as a new harm reduction health educator. Most things I know I learned from those who were in those fights, who had to educate and care for their communities as governments abandoned responsibility

9/I've probably missed a lot here, and I know the analogies are not perfect. But I think we can take a lot of inspiration from the way folks took care of their communities when hateful and uncaring governments would not.

10/Popular education, mutual aid, activism and agitation are all going to be needed to get us through this.