Posted on Apr 24, 2021
MIT researchers: Risk of contracting COVID-19 indoors the same at 6ft and 60ft
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The risk of contracting COVID-19 indoors is the same when socially distanced 6 feet apart and 60 feet apart, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America earlier this month, argues that there isn’t much benefit to distancing 6 feet apart.
Ideas about coronavirus transmission have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. At the start of the global outbreak, scientists and medical professional believed that hand-washing after touching surfaces was the leading cause of transmission. Experts now say the virus is transmitted through droplets released when people talk, sneeze and cough.
Professor Martin Bazant, who teaches chemical engineering and applied mathematics at MIT, told CNBC that the rule “really has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you’re more exposed to the average background than you are to a person at a distance.”
Bazant and MIT applied mathematics professor John Bush created a model to calculate exposure risk to COVID-19 in an indoor setting based on the amount of time indoors, air filtration, immunizations, variants and respiratory activity like breathing.
They say the most important factor is the amount of time spent indoors rather than how far apart people stand from one another.
“What our analysis continues to show is that many spaces that have been shut down in fact don’t need to be,” Bazant told CNBC.
He continued by arguing that if a space is large enough with proper ventilation, the amount of time spent in those spaces is such that “those spaces can be safely operated even at full capacity and the scientific support for reduced capacity in those spaces is really not very good.”
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the World Health Organization recommend maintaining a 6-foot distance from others, specifically in indoor settings.
The CDC says it’s important to maintain such distance even if you or the other person doesn’t have symptoms.
However, the agency last month dropped the distancing guidance to 3 feet for classroom settings.
Link to MSN version - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mit-researchers-risk-of-contracting-covid-19-indoors-the-same-at-6ft-and-60ft/ar-BB1fYALi?ocid=msedgntp
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America earlier this month, argues that there isn’t much benefit to distancing 6 feet apart.
Ideas about coronavirus transmission have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. At the start of the global outbreak, scientists and medical professional believed that hand-washing after touching surfaces was the leading cause of transmission. Experts now say the virus is transmitted through droplets released when people talk, sneeze and cough.
Professor Martin Bazant, who teaches chemical engineering and applied mathematics at MIT, told CNBC that the rule “really has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you’re more exposed to the average background than you are to a person at a distance.”
Bazant and MIT applied mathematics professor John Bush created a model to calculate exposure risk to COVID-19 in an indoor setting based on the amount of time indoors, air filtration, immunizations, variants and respiratory activity like breathing.
They say the most important factor is the amount of time spent indoors rather than how far apart people stand from one another.
“What our analysis continues to show is that many spaces that have been shut down in fact don’t need to be,” Bazant told CNBC.
He continued by arguing that if a space is large enough with proper ventilation, the amount of time spent in those spaces is such that “those spaces can be safely operated even at full capacity and the scientific support for reduced capacity in those spaces is really not very good.”
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the World Health Organization recommend maintaining a 6-foot distance from others, specifically in indoor settings.
The CDC says it’s important to maintain such distance even if you or the other person doesn’t have symptoms.
However, the agency last month dropped the distancing guidance to 3 feet for classroom settings.
Link to MSN version - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mit-researchers-risk-of-contracting-covid-19-indoors-the-same-at-6ft-and-60ft/ar-BB1fYALi?ocid=msedgntp
MIT researchers: Risk of contracting COVID-19 indoors the same at 6ft and 60ft
Posted from thehill.com
Coronavirus COVID19
Science
Health
Posted 3 y ago
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Great article! Engineers have know this for for a very long time but medical doctors and scientists who don't truly understand the dynamics behind air flow will always be a day late and a dollar short. Because they aren't comfortable with the truth in engineering they say: "Well what can it hurt to use 3 masks and stay apart forever?" The answer is it can hurt a lot. Thanks for a good read.
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SOOOOOO????????? I STILL DON'T WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE OF CATCHING IT!!
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The author Jordan Williams needs to learn how to write. See the third paragraph of the article, shown below.
"Ideas about coronavirus transmission have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. At the start of the global outbreak, scientists and medical professional believed that hand-washing after touching surfaces was the leading cause of transmission. Experts now say the virus is transmitted through droplets released when people talk, sneeze and cough."
"Ideas about coronavirus transmission have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. At the start of the global outbreak, scientists and medical professional believed that hand-washing after touching surfaces was the leading cause of transmission. Experts now say the virus is transmitted through droplets released when people talk, sneeze and cough."
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SSG Robert Webster
I wonder if the original article had this same mistake before being edited. This article appears to be plagiarized from the one authored by Rich Mendez and published on CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/mit-researchers-say-youre-no-safer-from-covid-indoors-at-6-feet-or-60-feet-in-new-study.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/mit-researchers-say-youre-no-safer-from-covid-indoors-at-6-feet-or-60-feet-in-new-study.html
MIT researchers say you're no safer from Covid indoors at 6 feet or 60 feet in new study...
The CDC and WHO guidelines fail to factor in the amount of time spent indoors, which increases the chance of transmission the longer people are inside.
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