The spread of aerosols is of crucial importance in the corona pandemic.
Research shows that talking to someone infected can be dangerous.
New infections with the coronavirus are high in many countries.
Great Britain in particular has been hit by the pandemic.
The background is the new Corona variant.
Research shows that speaking also carries a risk.
Munich - In Spain there is a duty of confidentiality and a ban on making calls on public transport.
It remains to be seen whether it will soon be the same in Germany.
The background to the regulations is the
aerosols
that spread when infected with the
coronavirus
.
A speech ban is intended to
minimize
the
risk of infection
with the virus.
However, a study shows how dangerous speaking can be with regard to aerosols.
UK study: speaking just as dangerous as coughing
Aerosols, which are produced when breathing, coughing, sneezing, singing or talking and which spread through the air, play
a major
role
in the
corona pandemic
.
The background for the recommendation to ventilate rooms well regularly are small particles that can stay in the air for several hours.
The 1.5-meter distance control is due to larger particles, which, on the other hand, cannot stay in the air for very long.
Pedro Magalhães de Oliveira
, fluid mechanics from the University of British Cambdridge, published a research paper in the journal
"Proceedings of the Royal Society A"
.
Among other things, he presented a computer that can use various adjustable parameters to calculate how high the risk of
infection can be
in an interior.
The study also states that
talking
to an infected person should be
just as
dangerous as
talking
to someone who is coughing.
Specifically, the result was that an hour after an infected person had spoken for 30 seconds, more aerosols remained in the air than after a single cough.
In small spaces and without ventilation, this could be enough to cause an infection.
"You need masks, you need space, and you need good ventilation so that these particles do not collect in an interior and they are safely removed," said
de Oliveira
to the British newspaper The Guardian.
Coronavirus: spread of aerosols - "Speaking is a very important point"
“Speaking is a very important point to consider,” Oliveira said, “because it produces much finer particles (than coughing) and these particles or aerosols can be suspended in amounts sufficient to prevent the disease for over an hour to cause."
The
calculator
that de Oliveira developed takes into account various factors that can be individually adjusted to see how these affect the spread.
These include:
The area and height of the room.
How often does an air exchange take place?
How many people are there in the room?
What is their job?
What kind of masks are they wearing?
(Cloth masks, surgical masks, FFP2 masks)
How many infectious people are in the room?
Are you wearing a mask?
For example, the new coronavirus mutation B.1.1.7, which is said to be significantly more infectious, is not taken into account in the calculator.
However, you can use the computer to get an idea of how certain measures, for example wearing a mask or airing, in favor of the virus can affect the pandemic.
(mbr)