Peter Daszak is part of the World Health Organization’s 14-member team investigating the origins of the coronavirus. This weekend on Twitter he described “explaining key findings of our exhausting month-long work in China” to journalists — only to see team members “selectively misquoted to fit a narrative that was prescribed before the work began.” Daszak was responding to a New York…
Tag: ventilation
‘Nature’ Urges More Masks, Air Purifiers, and Ventilation Instead of Disinfecting Surfaces
“Catching the coronavirus from surfaces is rare. The World Health Organization and national public-health agencies need to clarify their advice,” urges an editorial in Nature (shared by long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo): A year into the pandemic, the evidence is now clear. The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted predominantly through the air — by people talking and breathing out large droplets and small…
Razer Has Created a Concept N95 Mask With RGB and Voice Projection
Razer has created a concept reusable N95 respirator called Project Hazel, featuring Chroma RGB LEDs and microphones and amplifiers to project your voice. The Verge reports: It’s a concept design with a glossy outside shell made of waterproof and scratch-resistant recycled plastic, which is transparent to allow for lip-reading and seeing facial cues when you chat with people. Currently, there isn’t…
To reduce chances of spreading coronavirus, keep indoor air clean
Being indoors with other people is a recipe for spreading the coronavirus. But removing airborne particles through proper ventilation and air filtration can reduce some of that risk. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/keeping-indoor-air-clean-reduce-spread-coronavirus…
Remdesivir has ‘no meaningful impact’ on COVID-19 survival, huge study finds
Patients given the drug did not show a significant decrease in mortality, risk of ventilation or time in the hospital. Source: https://www.livescience.com/remdesivir-survival-covid19-coronavirus.html
Blood Type May Affect Severity of COVID-19 Infection, New Study Suggests
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Yahoo: In a new study published Wednesday, researchers in Canada found that, among 95 critically ill COVID-19 patients, 84 percent of those with the blood types A and AB required mechanical ventilation compared to 61 percent of patients with type O or type B, CNN reports. The former group also remained in the intensive…
Face Shields Ineffective at Trapping Aerosols, Says Japanese Supercomputer
Plastic face shields are almost totally ineffective at trapping respiratory aerosols, according to modelling in Japan, casting doubt on their effectiveness in preventing the spread of coronavirus. From a report: A simulation using Fugaku, the world’s fastest supercomputer, found that almost 100% of airborne droplets of less than 5 micrometres in size escaped through plastic visors of the kind often used…
Should America Re-Open Its Movie Theatres?
70% of America’s movie theatres have now re-opened for business, reports NPR: “When our patrons come back, they’ll see the safe environment we’ve provided for them,” said John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners. Fithian invited two medical experts and the heads of the country’s biggest theater chains to launch a public awareness campaign dubbed “CinemaSafe,”…
WHO To Review Evidence of Airborne Transmission of Coronavirus
After hundreds of experts urged the World Health Organization to review mounting scientific research, the agency acknowledged on Tuesday that airborne transmission of the coronavirus may be a threat in indoor spaces. The New York Times reports: W.H.O. expert committees are going over evidence on transmission of the virus and plan to release updated recommendations in a few days, agency scientists…
200 Scientists Say WHO Ignores the Risk That Coronavirus ‘Aerosols’ Float in the Air
“Six months into a pandemic that has killed over half a million people, more than 200 scientists from around the world are challenging the official view of how the coronavirus spreads,” reports the Los Angeles Times: The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that you have to worry about only two types of transmission:…