AC Restaurants Update

[DrKen]

On another note, here in Minnesota they just announced a new study. They are going to randomly test a bunch of people for Covid and run antibody tests also. This will give us a true idea of the penetration into the populace. Long overdue. Maybe we can have a accurate R0 instead of WAGS

[DrKen]

The concept of needing larger particles dated back to a text published in 1916. It persisted til recently. One of my concerns is people exhaling thru the masks. Most masks just divert the vapor out the sides. However coughing and similar may force the drops thru the mask resulting in large drops be converted to aerosols. Social distancing is still best method by far. The particles become diluted then.

[tech58]

Are not the particle of moist smoke exhaled larger than moist droplets from non-smokers ?
Is this not able to carry farther?

[DrKen]

They may be larger and if so then drop to the ground but seeing as they suspend they are probably smaller or a mix. The larger particles greater than 5 microns tend to drop out of the atmosphere. Distance generally considered 6 ft thus the social distancing. But that is not absolute. I know of no studies saying smokers exhale a greater viral load.

[tech58]

It seems to me that smoke is either burned or unburned particles of tobacco that smokers exhale.
A discussion on this subject a while back included an article that stated that those particles were capable of carrying the virus. Will try to dig up that info.
Tobacco smoke certainly carries a lot farther than 6 feet.

[DrKen]

Then it is aerosol. As I noted. Yes it may carry viral particles but the pertinent question would be do smokers shed more virus than non smokers.

[tech58]

Great info. and food for thought.
I am not an expert on this subject (or any other subject for that matter) but i have read that exhaled smoke is "capable" of carrying a virus. If that is true then, in my simplistic viewpoint, smelling smoke from 50-100 feet away or more means it is possible,mask or not, that i have inhaled a virus carrying particle.
Too simplistic DrKen ?

[DrKen]

No it’s not simplistic. However, not every particle would carry the virus, it prob is not a heavy enough dose to infect you, and there is just as much chance you are inhaling other exhaled particles that carry the virus. It is a great example of how far an aerosol can spread.but don’t think that a smoker is more likely to transmit the virus than a non smoker. I did a quick search and no one has compared the viral shedding between the two.
Remember you are going to get covid someplace, sometime barring a vaccine. Most likely you won’t even realize it or have mild symptoms. We are much better at treating the severe ones and have flattened the curve so resources are available if needed.

[billryan]

When we shut down the country, we were at about 200 deaths a day and 20,000 new infections.
Yesterday we had 1400plus deaths and over 50,000 infections.
Thirty four states had an increase in deaths from last week and twenty-five states had an increase in infections.
That doesn't sound like we are doing better at much of anything,on the whole.

[DrKen]

As I stated prior, you are going to catch Covid at some point. With ever increasing cases we see lower numbers in the hospital and lowering death rates. Unfortunately for those in poor health or at the end stage of life Covid tends to be far more life threatening. We won’t stop Covid but we will survive it. All species go through this periodically now it’s our turn