“Common Sense and the coronavirus (COVID-19)”
Aerosols are particles small enough to travel through the air. Ordinary speech creates significant quantities of aerosols from respiratory particles. Normal speech by individuals who are asymptomatic but infected with coronavirus may produce enough aerosolized particles to transmit the infection. The louder one speaks, the more particles are emitted and some individuals are “super emitters”. Thus, we need special separation from other individuals during this crisis, which may be more than six feet. Additionally, people should wear face coverings made of bandanas, scarves, or other fabric, and Science reports that the CDC is recommending that all people in the United States wear cloth facemasks in public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that larger respiratory droplets expelled when infected people cough or sneeze is the primary means of transmitting the coronavirus. Surgical masks worn by sick patients have reduced the detection of coronavirus RNA in both aerosol and droplet transmission forms. Some Indonesian, Turkish and Mexican countries have resorted to “mass disinfections” to combat the coronavirus but it is posing another health hazard. Images of plumes of disinfectant spray, fired from trucks into the air or from spray guns on to roads have riled health experts.
