Advice: Humidifiers. We need them now, and everywhere that people gather in temperate climates. There’s a reason why the common cold, influenza, and indeed SARS all die out as summer approaches in seasonal climates—relative humidity over 40% is the best method for controlling airborne viruses.
“The present study allowed us to assess viral infectivity under various levels of relative humidity and showed that one hour after coughing, ∼5 times more virus remains infectious at 7–23% relative humidity (RH) than at ≥43% RH.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583861/
What’s your model for how useful this is? COVID spreads in public places, and it’s mostly spreading via droplets on surfaces. Changing indoor humidity seems like it would only have a very minor impact, if any.
This makes little sense to me. Viruses are different, spread differently, and will react differently to environmental changes.
And I do not understand why checking for fever routinely is less tractable as a routine habit than, say, using humidifers. And distracting from exclusively promoting handwashing seems like a huge net negative, given that we still haven’t gotten people to change their habits.
I don’t know whether I’d be willing to use a regular thermometer every day, but I’m getting daily temperature data as an automatic byproduct of using the Oura sleep tracking ring.
Agree, unless someone reading this happen to be in a position to determine the HVAC settings of a workplace, store, etc. Or if you host gatherings in your home.
Advice: Humidifiers. We need them now, and everywhere that people gather in temperate climates. There’s a reason why the common cold, influenza, and indeed SARS all die out as summer approaches in seasonal climates—relative humidity over 40% is the best method for controlling airborne viruses.
Influenza season has been ending every spring, (https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?type=printable&id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1003194) long before DNA tests, masks, or alcohol sprays. Humidity under 30% like we regularly encounter in buildings during winter occurs naturally very rarely. It degrades our immune defenses and increases the longevity of airborne viruses.
“The present study allowed us to assess viral infectivity under various levels of relative humidity and showed that one hour after coughing, ∼5 times more virus remains infectious at 7–23% relative humidity (RH) than at ≥43% RH.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583861/
“Low ambient humidity impairs barrier function and innate resistance against influenza infection” https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/116/22/10905.full.pdf
Need to get the news out. I wrote a Medium article on it: https://medium.com/@crissmanloomis/the-end-of-the-covid-19-outbreak-d578092282c8
What’s your model for how useful this is? COVID spreads in public places, and it’s mostly spreading via droplets on surfaces. Changing indoor humidity seems like it would only have a very minor impact, if any.
In many ways COVID19 is irrelevant.
It’s already spreading in multiple countries, and is very likely to become endemic.
However: It is not alone, there will be future viruses.
We should be looking to create habits that will protect us from both COVID19 and all future local epidemics and pandemics.
That means habits that can be maintained indefinitely, not short-term changes that are not sustainable.
Things like washing hands and using hand sanitizer and creams are habits you can learn and maintain.
Checking everyone for fever, selling your stocks to buy X is not sustainable, and so these behaviours will be quickly forgotten.
This makes little sense to me. Viruses are different, spread differently, and will react differently to environmental changes.
And I do not understand why checking for fever routinely is less tractable as a routine habit than, say, using humidifers. And distracting from exclusively promoting handwashing seems like a huge net negative, given that we still haven’t gotten people to change their habits.
I don’t know whether I’d be willing to use a regular thermometer every day, but I’m getting daily temperature data as an automatic byproduct of using the Oura sleep tracking ring.
Agree, unless someone reading this happen to be in a position to determine the HVAC settings of a workplace, store, etc. Or if you host gatherings in your home.
It is almost 90 degrees in Singapore, and the humidity is almost 90 percent. and it spreads...