Two experts from the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology have claimed that the officials have missed some major risks of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads in the directive of six feet social distancing when it comes to staying indoors. They have said that though staying at a distance of six feet might help prevent the spread of large droplets, saliva, or mucus that carry the virus and other germs, but this distance cannot stop the spread of small airborne particles of the virus called aerosols. MIT engineer Martin Bazant and mathematician John Bush have said that the federal agencies as well have supported their findings. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that it has been proved that coronavirus is an airborne pathogen. The agency has said that an overdependence on cleaning surfaces might put people at the risk of neglecting bigger danger and they might be breathing in virus-contaminated air. Martin Bazant and John Bush have come up with a complex formula to estimate how fast people are expected to be exposed to the virus in a number of closed spaces. This calculation takes a number of factors into consideration such as air circulation and the rate of replacement of contaminated air with fresh and clean air. These factors have been seen in many cases of air transmission. A choir rehearsal in Skagit Valley, Washington is an apt example of such types of virus spread. In this incidence, around 53 people have been tested positive for COVID19.
The authors of the study have said that people should avoid an extended stay in highly populated areas to reduce the risk of infection. They have advised that people are safe in rooms with high ventilation rates. People should not live in rooms where so many people are working themselves in such a way that shoots up their rate of respiration and virus output such as singing, shouting, or exercising, said the experts. The authors have clearly mentioned that wearing masks by both infected and vulnerable people will reduce the risk of virus spread. Experts have designed a theoretical classroom with 19 students and a teacher to see how faster the air can be fully replaced with open windows and with an adequate HVAC system. The study has noted that the safe time after a COVID19 positive person enters the class is 1.2 hours for natural ventilation for normal occupancy and without mask condition. In the case of mechanical ventilation, the safe time is 7.2 hours, said the experts. Bush and Bazant have said that the extended times of physical activity, singing, and collective speech will reduce the safe time limit by an order of scale. The findings of the study have been released in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Science.
The findings of the study are like a wake-up call for elderly homes and long-term care facilities that contribute to a larger portion of COVID19 hospitalization and related deaths. The federal law requires a maximum of occupancy of three people and suggests a minimum area of 80 square feet per person in nursing homes in New York City. Under these guidelines, people who are following six feet of social distancing are safe for only three minutes. The protection fails after 17 minutes if a COVID19 positive person enters the room for a short time. The authors of the study have said that mechanical ventilation is in a sluggish state at this time, in such a case, three people can stay safe in a room for not more than 18 minutes. The aspects of the study offer an insight into the distressing toll of the COVID19 pandemic on old people. The outcomes of the analysis support the use of facemasks and staying in well-ventilated rooms.
