shpalman wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 3:30 pm
Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 2:07 pm
Proximity is important too. People drinking at another table are several metres away, whereas bar staff or people queuing or whatever are much closer. Omicron can spread during shorter contacts, but I've not seen much suggestion it travels over longer distances...
Doesn't it basically fill a whole room unless you keep* the windows open?
* - yes, keep them open, not just for
10 minutes every hour.
You were right, because apparently
Covid loses 90% of ability to infect within five minutes in air "according to the world’s first simulations of how the virus survives in exhaled air."
Until now, our assumptions about how long the virus survives in tiny airborne droplets have been based on studies that involved spraying virus into sealed vessels called Goldberg drums, which rotate to keep the droplets airborne. Using this method, US researchers found that infectious virus could still be detected after three hours. Yet such experiments do not accurately replicate what happens when we cough or breathe.
Instead, researchers from the University of Bristol developed apparatus that allowed them to generate any number of tiny, virus-containing particles and gently levitate them between two electric rings for anywhere between five seconds to 20 minutes, while tightly controlling the temperature, humidity and UV light intensity of their surroundings. “This is the first time anyone has been able to actually simulate what happens to the aerosol during the exhalation process,” Reid said.
When [the humidity] was lower than 50% – similar to the relatively dry air found in many offices – the virus had lost half of its infectivity within 10 seconds, after which the decline was slower and more steady. At 90% humidity – roughly equivalent to a steam or shower room – the decline in infectivity was more gradual, with 52% of particles remaining infectious after five minutes, dropping to about 10% after 20 minutes.
The Guardian even linked to it:
The Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity with Changes in Aerosol Microenvironment
Henry P. Oswin, Allen E. Haddrell, Mara Otero-Fernandez, Jamie F.S. Mann, Tristan A. Cogan, Tom Hilditch, Jianghan Tian, Dan Hardy, Darryl J. Hill, Adam Finn, Andrew D. Davidson, Jonathan P. Reid
doi:
https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.08.22268944
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 22268944v1