The Insightful Troll

Rants and ruminations.

Protect Yourself From Covid-19 Aerosol Spread

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A group of scientists have written up a Google Doc of advice for the public in a FAQ on Protecting Yourself from COVID-19 Aerosol Transmission.

The goal of these FAQs is to provide information to the general public in an efficient manner about how to prevent aerosol transmission of COVID-19, with the hope that this will allow more informed decision making by individuals or organizations. All of this information has been posted in Twitter and other forums, but can be difficult to find. Having multiple experts working together, and having the ability to update this information also improves its quality. These FAQs represent our best understanding at this time, and should always be similar or more stringent than information provided by CDC, WHO, and most regional & local health authorities. If your authority has a more stringent guideline than discussed here, follow that more stringent guideline.

From the most important actionable take away form the FAQ:

3.5. How can I protect myself from aerosol transmission indoors?
We can never be perfectly safe, only safer. Hence, we need to take as many steps as possible to reduce the risk of our activities. You should try to avoid or reduce as much as possible situations that facilitate inhaling the “smoke” (exhaled air) from others. To reduce risk avoid:

Crowded spaces
Close proximity to others
Low ventilation environments
Long durations
Places where people are not wearing masks
Talking, and especially loud talking / shouting / singing
High breathing rates (e.g., indoor aerobic exercise)

Each one of these features potentially increases the aerosol concentration you might inhale indoors. So if you must enter one of the above situations, complete your tasks as quickly as possible to reduce your exposure duration and risk.

And of course, as always, wear a f**k'n face mask!

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