Fighting blindfolded
New findings reveal that the COVID-19 virus is transmitted predominantly through air
It’s not easy to fight an enemy of whom we know little and, that too, not with surety. Call it awareness or the fear of being penalised, but we have been following (or, trying to follow) the Government’s directives — wear face masks, sanitise hands frequently and maintain physical distance — like obedient children to a teacher. But what if the teacher herself/himself is clueless about how to solve a problem? The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is one such question that has puzzled our scientific community as no other in the recent history. Even though the Governments and peoples across the world had started coming to terms with the pandemic when it first struck, the pesky virus has again pounced upon humanity with greater ferocity — mutant strains that are more virulent than the parent. Now, according to a new assessment carried in the medical journal Lancet, scientists have found that the virus is transmitted predominantly through air, with little or no evidence that it spreads via large droplets which fall quickly through air and contaminate surfaces. The findings reveal that the silent (asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic) transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from people who are not coughing or sneezing accounts for at least 40 per cent of all transmissions. The question that jumps to mind is whether our overemphasis on sanitisation and washing of hands is of any help, really? Well, if the study is to be believed, washing hands and cleaning surfaces should be given less emphasis than airborne measures— ventilation, air filtration and wearing masks indoors, too (even if not within six feet or two metres of others).
The pandemic has changed everything and now outdoors is not about breathing freely in the open. Rather, most people now heave a sigh of relief when they return home as it is the only place where they can remove their masks without any fear. But it seems that this small relief will also go away soon and people will have to wear masks even indoors so as to mitigate the airborne transmission. Further, a study by the IIT, Bhubaneswar, shows that aerosol droplets leak through the gap between the face and the mask and hence physical distancing is still pertinent. The study strongly recommends not using a surgical mask during normal conversations as the leakage of droplets is noticeable in such cases. An N-95 mask completely impedes the leakage of the droplets in the forward direction, it says. Last year, the Centre had written to all States and Union Territories against the use of N-95 masks with valved respirators, saying these do not prevent the virus from spreading out and are “detrimental” to the measures adopted. Whether there was any scientific finding or empirical evidence behind this warning, only the Government knows. Even as millions have died and more have been infected, we are still beating around the bush as the virus is nothing short of a mystery. We, as well as the Governments and the scientific community, are struggling hard to pin down the virus and the pandemic.
Source: The Pioneer
