6 Feet & A Mask: Hygiene Practice and COVID-19

Why 6 feet? Viruses are an inert threat, incapable of replicating without a host cell in which to do so. They are essentially a microscopic package of RNA, wrapped in a membrane, only able to travel and reproduce by way of the host’s body. In the case of COVID-19, the most common way the virus is passed along is when an infected person coughs or breathes out, and millions of tiny water droplets carry the virus to its next destination. Recall a time your breath fogged a mirror. This is the visual evidence of usually-invisible water vapor leaving the lungs. When a person breathes in, the air currents change around the face, creating a microcosmic vortex that draws air into the nose and mouth. Virus particles drawn into the digestive system have a low chance of survival, given that their final destination is most likely an acid bath in the stomach. If the coronavirus is drawn into the airways and lungs, however, it then attaches to the ACE-2 receptors present in the cells lining the airways and begins to replicate rapidly. The water vapor that is expelled in exhalation can reach quite a distance, depending upon what a person is doing. Coughing expels the breath the farthest, typically to 6 feet – and sometimes more, while water droplets in the breath often reach 4-5 feet from singing and even up to 3 feet from talking. Maintaining a distance in public places reduces your chances of inadvertently breathing in another person’s recently exhaled virus. To Mask or Not to Mask? ...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog COVID COVID-19 Confinement Virus Source Type: blogs