Airborne Coronavirus: What You Should Do Now (NYT)

[Mike 03]

NYT
Apoorva Mandavilli
July 6, 2020, 4:55 p.m. ET


How to protect yourself from a virus that may be floating indoors? Better ventilation, for starters. And keep wearing those masks.

The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests.

This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain super-spreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants.

It’s unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech.

Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization.

What is clear, they said, is that people should consider minimizing time indoors with people outside their families. Schools, nursing homes and businesses should consider adding powerful new air filters and ultraviolet lights that can kill airborne viruses.

Here are answers to a few questions raised by the latest research.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/health/coronavirus-airborne-aerosols.html

Fairly comprehensive article

[Hekate]

1. Kick

[2naSalit]

2. K&R

[liberalla]

3. Good info! . . . K&R

[underpants]

4. I'm going back into the office tomorrow

I’m in the office Tuesdays and Thursday’s. Working at home the other days. Masks are required and there should only be 7 of us the whole building. I’m planning on going straight to my office and closing the door. Taking lunch because our cafeteria is closed.

[Nevilledog]

7. Good luck and stay safe!

[Dem2theMax]

5. Kicking!

[TomCADem]

6. To translate. WEAR A MASK and...

....the outdoor protests are not the cause of the surge in cases. It is people.crowding into enclosed spaces with stagnant air like bars, restaurants, churches and casinos without masks that have really caused the dramatic increase.

[wendyb-NC]

8. Thank you. Good info.

[mysteryowl]

9. Man, oh, man, oh, man...

We are going to be at this for a looongg while. Bummer.

[niyad]

10. KNR

[StarryNite]

11. Maybe some hope with mitigating the risks though...

"Schools, nursing homes and businesses should consider adding powerful new air filters and ultraviolet lights that can kill airborne viruses."
A potential growth industry, making the better mousetrap. The problem is it will take forever to make the changes.

[RhodeIslandOne]

12. I've assumed this was the case all along

I was kinda surprised this was considered a breaking development.

[shockey80]

13. Same here, this is common sense.

How in the hell did everybody think it was spreading?

[rlegro]

14. UV lights sort of a good idea, with cautions

UV-C is the only type of UV light that will take out viruses, and then only when used at high intensity for minutes or hours. FDA hasn't approved any home UV disinfection devices because humans exposed to appropriate levels of light could be physically harmed. Those little UV hand wands are probably not up to the job. For a family member, I did invest in a C-PAP (apnea breathing mask) cleaning system that uses very strong UV light, but it's bulky since you have to put the mask, hose, etc. inside a sealed, reflective box before activating the light. Even then, used correctly, the manufacturer suggests wiping off equipment from time to time with an anti-viral towlette.

The one UV-C device I have considered for my home is a light tube that installs inside a forced-air HVAC system return duct, where humans can't run into it but every bit of air carried back to the air conditioner or furnace is treated as it goes through. But I still haven't pulled the trigger. More research and cost-benefit considerations to go. Maybe regular airings of the house through the exhaust-fan system would be roughly equivalent. Maybe electronic air cleaners of the portable or built-in type would do some good. Lots to learn.

[Kitchari]

15. K&R n/t

[NNadir]

16. As I say repeatedly...

...you cannot get a degree in journalism these days if you have passed a college level science course.

You actually cannot learn much good science by reading the New York Times.