Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant in Tightly Monitored Isolation (opens in new tab)

(wwwnc.cdc.gov)

38 pointsDrScump4y ago15 comments

15 comments

9 comments · 4 top-level

So much for fomite theater.

Early on at least one cruise was tied up in Japan while the passengers were confined to their cabins while the HVAC system spread the virus around.

Yep, it's aerosols and I'm sure happy I have had three shots. Hopefully the shots and vitamin D will get me through omicron which will likely come to all of us.

fogihujy4y ago

It's more of a confirmation thing, I think. We've been pretty sure about Covid being airborne since early 2020. This probably helps convince some of the few that insist it isn't.

zpeti4y ago

The entire basis for wearing surgical masks and cloth masks is droplet transmission.

They don’t help at all with aerosol transmission.

So basically the entire world is crazy to mandate it unless it’s minimum kn95 or n95 masks.

Many many people don’t want to accept its aerosol transmission because it means it’s much harder to do anything about it.

1 more reply

tinus_hn4y ago

Clearly you aren’t in the Netherlands, where the authorities only started advocating adequate ventilation a few months ago. Before that washing your hands was more important.

nikolay4y ago· 2 in thread

What people don't get is the simple math of masks. For example, a 70% filtration-rate mask (let's say, surgical one) is not just 25% worse than an N95 mask - it's actually 5 times worse. And an N95/FFP2 is not just 4% worse than an N95/FFP3 one - it's 5 times worse. Also, things are drastically changing with Omicron - an N95 may not be enough to protect you during a prolonged exposure. If you use the above math, you will see that going to work 22 days a month and spending 8 hours a day with an N95 mask is equivalent to being without a mask for more than a day during that month.

GuB-424y ago

N99/FFP3 masks usually have valves, making it them inappropriate for covid. And in the end, fit is more important than the filtration rate. The 95% rate of N95 is actually a minimum, it is likely much higher for actual virus-containing aerosols, but if air leaks from the sides, it becomes much lower.

If you think you need better than N95, you will probably want a full face mask with HEPA filters.

nikolay4y ago

3M offers FFP3 masks without valves [0]. I found a couple more companies with disposable FFP3 masks, but none with N99 certification. I managed to buy EGE masks (made in Turkey, but certified in EU) [1] when I was in Bulgaria and they were less than $2 a piece. The other part of the math of masks is that a $2 FFP3 mask is actually cheaper than a KN95 mask, which has a shorter lifespan.

[0]: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_LB/p/d/v101158114/

[1]: https://www.egemaske.com/ege-700-ffp3-nr/ege-700-ffp3-nr-d.h...

DrScumpOP4y ago

Recent media article: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/30/covid-travelers-infec...

"COVID: Travelers infected one another across hallway, research shows"

j7ake4y ago

This also suggests that a tight fitting mask can make a difference between inhaling it or not.

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