The COVID-19 pandemic continues, claiming lives and leaving others disabled, even as the federal government begins dismantling the already underfunded infrastructure meant to protect us from such illnesses. At a time when American culture has largely moved on, who protects the sick or immunocompromised?
In cities across the United States, volunteer-led “mask blocs” and clean air clubs are stepping up to fill in the gaps that vulnerable people might otherwise slip through. At a time when compassion for others is often seen as a radical act–if not derided as leading to the downfall of “Western Civilization”—they’re cultivating an atmosphere of collective care. KD Drackert, an advocate for people with Long COVID and one of the founders of Clear the Air ATX, said they want others to understand the role all of us play in creating a safer, more accessible world.
“People … don’t understand that this is a collective issue they are a part of,” Drackert told Deceleration. “That has created this weird dynamic where people are like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry you’re going through this. That’s so hard.’ … And I’m like, wait, no, this isn’t just about me. This is about you too.”
Long COVID is defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control as a condition that can follow infection and result in “chronic conditions requiring comprehensive care and may cause disability.”
On a blustery Saturday afternoon on March 15 — Long COVID Awareness Day — I accompanied Drackert and a handful of other members of Clear the Air ATX, all of us wearing masks, to an overpass above a busy highway intersection in downtown Austin. It took three members of the group tightly gripping the fabric through sewn hand loops to keep their painted banner safely contained from gusts of wind as they dangled it over the railing: “Long COVID is a Public Health Emergency.” Their message drew honks of support from drivers, along with occasional middle fingers.
Drackert said they’re constantly pushing back against a powerful stigma around COVID and its potential lasting aftereffects. “I’m just not gonna be shamed into silence,” they said. “I was already in the closet once, I’m not doing it again.”
Drackert was a performance artist, often focusing their work on the LGBTQ+ community, before Long COVID brought on a myriad of debilitating symptoms that dramatically limited their ability to sustain the intensive physical demands of life on the stage. Now, they pour much of that passion into both raising awareness and cultivating COVID-safer spaces at community events. Clear the Air ATX maintains a lending library of HEPA air filters as well as germ-zapping “far ultraviolet” devices, which anyone can borrow for events. They also maintain a calendar of public COVID-safer gatherings which range from concerts to drag shows to board game nights. And the group has given out thousands of free face masks since they began their work in December 2023.
Research suggests bisexual and transgender people may be among the most at risk for Long COVID. Every COVID-19 infection increases the risk of developing this often disabling syndrome. As the Trump administration accelerates its attacks on both public health and the rights of LGBTQ+ people, especially trans rights, Drackert believes that mask blocs are more important than ever in supporting resistance to the regime.
“The revolution isn’t happening if it’s not accessible,” Drackert said. “The revolution isn’t happening if you don’t listen to some of your most vulnerable members.”
In the weeks since Clear the Air ATX’s banner drop, the need for community-driven healthcare has only become more apparent. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired thousands of HHS workers, clawed back billions allocated to state and local pandemic response, downplayed the West Texas measles outbreak, gutted infectious disease response infrastructure, and forced out the top vaccine official from the Food and Drug Administration.
Anya, a volunteer with Mask Bloc HTX, said Trump’s election, and his commitment to supporting disinformation peddlers like Kennedy, has led to more requests for masks, but also new volunteers.
“A lot of people had already been feeling left behind by the previous administration, especially people dealing with Long COVID,” Anya told Deceleration. “So I think the election triggered a lot of people to want to get their hands in and try to help as much as they can, wherever they can.”
One of the challenges of operating a mask bloc in 2025 is proving the continued relevance of the work in a society that’s moved on from illness mitigation, Anya said, even among the U.S. left. “We’re trying to find the missing pieces that help people connect the dots and the intersectionalities of capitalism and this pandemic.”
Many of the people mask blocs serve, and those who operate them, draw from the same population: the immunocompromised and those who never stopped taking precautions after the pandemic began, according to Laura Halvorson, a volunteer with the COVID Conscious Bloc of San Antonio. Halvorson felt that the administration of President Biden’s “relaxed” attitude toward COVID mitigation encouraged people to check out of their responsibilities to each other.
Across the country, mask bloc volunteers, along with other disability-rights activists, have been at the forefront of opposing proposed mask bans. In the Texas legislature this session, HB 3061 would increase penalties for certain crimes if they were committed while masked. The bill was referred to a committee hearing on March 25. Anya from Mask Bloc HTX said her group hopes to collaborate with Clear The Air ATX to encourage people to testify against the bill.
“We find the mask bans deeply unsettling and they set up a dangerous precedent,” said Halvorson. “Potential bans anywhere, they must absolutely be refuted by the community.”
Opponents of mask bans say the proposals are inspired by a desire to crack down on mask wearing at protests, such as those which broke out in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, and that they’ll increase the stigma around mask wearing by associating it with lawlessness.
“We know that ultimately, our disabled and immunocompromised neighbors belong in public,” said Ana Sevilla, another volunteer with the San Antonio bloc. “These bans [would] effectively keep them in a state of isolation that they don’t deserve to be in, almost 24/7.”
Sevilla said one of the best ways to make mask bans unacceptable is to simply bring back the practice of masking in crowded, public spaces. “Masks work most effectively when everybody wears them,” she noted. “To combat all of this targeting and harassment, we strongly recommend that more people grow the practice of masking in their personal lives, in all public spaces, to try to make [a] ban, should it come to pass, virtually impossible to enforce.”
Mutual aid projects can be vital to community resilience, which only becomes clearer during times of crisis, from pandemics to the latest climate-driven emergency.
Because “as climate change worsens, we’re more likely to see pandemics,” Drackert said. “So it is in the interest of climate activists and organizations to care about COVID and COVID safety.”
Climate change can increase the risk of people becoming disabled, due to numerous causes from natural disasters to air quality. Sick and disabled people are among the most vulnerable to natural disasters. But as a result their communities have learned strategies for survival. When wildfires raged across California earlier this year it was often mask blocs and other mutual aid groups inspired by the disability rights movement who were most prepared to offer guidance on masking and improving indoor air quality.
“It was a bunch of disabled people and their allies, who had continued to care about COVID, who were ready in the face of climate disaster,” Drackert said.
Unfortunately, these kinds of mutual aid projects tend to center around major cities, which can leave folks in more rural areas struggling to access similar resources. “We have previously mailed masks … as far as Boerne, Canyon Lake, New Braunfels, and San Marcos,” Sevilla said. “We really hope that folks in these areas will hopefully be inspired to create their own mask bloc.”
Sevilla said she hoped to deepen their connections with residents of these smaller cities and towns and encouraged them to reach out to her group. She also pointed to a fanzine called “How to Start a Mask Bloc,” which she said was a vital resource in the creation of their own group.
“Most people believe themselves to be individuals who contribute to the greater good, and part of that good can be done by recommitting to masking,” Halvorson said “We’ve got to start actively participating in that ‘we keep us safe’ part instead of only just saying it. Every chain of transmission that’s broken matters.”
