AC Restaurants Update

[Tedlark]

Wearing your facial covering (mask) does not protect you from getting covid. Your mask helps limit the distance your covid droplets travel. That is what the mask does. Limiting the distance of droplets limits the spread.

A facial covering also helps prevent the contraction of COVID-19 by minimizing chances of a person touching their mouth or nose if they get active virus on their hands by touching a surface or object that is contaminated before they wash their hands. This is why constant hand washing is so important when touching community surfaces.

[Tedlark]

Eyes aren’t critical, sure. Just an ancillary point. My post has plenty of backing. I don’t know what your beef is. Usual cantankerous self!

My beef is that the internet is full of misinformation and a person should do a better job of posting factual information.

[FAA]

My restaurant had its usual line on Saturday. No plates; everything is boxed. Utensils are sealed. Glad they’re up and running. Besides the mask hassle, all seems normal.

[Tedlark]

Oh that darn mask, always getting in the way.......

[DrKen]

Gentlemen, all people exhale respiratory droplets when the breathe. whether they smoke or not They are expelling droplets. This has been implicated in the transmission of respiratory disease. For a better review I would recommend a article by Kevin P Fennally M.D in lancet. Published July 24,2020. This happens in regular breathing and increased in coughing, heavy breathing etc. please note the size of the droplets and the amount of viral dna carried.

[Tedlark]

Gentlemen, all people exhale respiratory droplets when the breathe. whether they smoke or not They are expelling droplets. This has been implicated in the transmission of respiratory disease. For a better review I would recommend a article by Kevin P Fennally M.D in lancet. Published July 24,2020. This happens in regular breathing and increased in coughing, heavy breathing etc. please note the size of the droplets and the amount of viral dna carried.

Can you summarize for us non-MDs?

Thank you in advance, I appreciate it.

[DrKen]

Ok, I will try to do that this afternoon. There is some research in this area which is very interesting.

[DrKen]

Ok. This is a review of current concepts in transmission of diseases by exhalation of droplets when breathing. It is just the highlights of an article in Lancet published July 24,2020. Author is Kevin Fennelly MD.
Previously it was felt that a virus needed a larger particle to attach to in order to become a airborne agent. Now it is known that aerosols (less than 5 microns in size) carry a larger rna amount. They carry about 65 percent of exhaled rna. Most of this is in particles of 4 microns or less. Covid is 1 micron in size. These can remain in suspension indefinitely and travel on air currents. Median size of exhaled particles is less than .7-1.0 microns in size
These particles are inhaled deeper in lungs down into the alveoli where the ace2 receptors are located.
The author did not draw any conclusions as this was a informational article for professionals to have in evaluating their protective breathing gear.
You can also draw your own conclusions about your own masks. Frankly I would use a n95 without a valve myself when I can’t social distance.
Lastly, the odds Are great you will catch Covid, the odds are also about 50-50 you won’t know it whe you do.

[Tedlark]

Interesting. I was taught that COVID-19 particles attach to larger airborne particles and can remain suspended in air indefinitely. Obviously any circulation of air will assist in keeping particles airborne and this leads to a question regarding airborne COVID-19 particles: have any studies been done regarding if, after any certain period of time, COVID-19 airborne particles are still active? Keeping in mind that COVID-19 particles die when they are on surfaces. So, if COVID-19 contaminates a surface and this contamination lasts 2 hours, would an airborne particulate also contaminated by COVID-19 virus also lose its contamination after the same 2 hours?

[DrKen]

A quick search revealed one study. In aerosols it can be viable up to 3 hours though it is decreasing during that time. Now this is in a lab setting. What happens in real situations is not known. However with all the sanitizing solutions be sprayed I suspect it is less. Different surfaces have different rates in the lab. Plastic is up to 72 hours and others less.