With fewer and fewer people wearing face masks on advertising flights, is the Covid-19 coronavirus now in sight, so to speak?Well, Malaysia’s National Public Health Laboratory (MLAK) has now reported a discovery that makes it need to hide what wastewater samples from 28 of the 29 flights in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, collected between June and December 31 last year contained, guess what, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This is according to an article in the Malaysian newspaper Sinar Harian.
Yes, almost all flights had SARS-CoV-2 in the resulting wastewater. In fact, “almost all” may very well be “all,” as the effects of that flight 29 have not yet returned, according to what the Malaysian director said. General Health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, MD, MCh, told Sinar. Harien. These aircraft wastewater tests were a component of ongoing environmental monitoring of Covid-19 in Malaysia, which concerned the testing of wastewater samples from other sentinel locations.
Finding SARS-CoV-2 in the sewage of a plane does not mean that the virus stepped on the flight, used the restroom, and then left before the flight took off for its destination. Viruses can’t board planes alone because they don’t have hands big enough to carry boarding passes. No, this means that at least one user on the flight became inflamed with SARS-CoV-2 and actively lost it. And on a one-hour flight, that means an hour of virus loss in the cabin. For a two-hour flight, it would be two hours of loss. For a 3-hour flight, it would be 3 hours of loss. Imagine what that would mean for a four-hour flight.
If you do the math, 28 out of 29 flights give more than 96%. Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, who served as the 20th U. S. Surgeon General. From September 5, 2017 to January 20, 2021, the U. S. Department of Homeland Security analyzed this 96% number below Tweet thread:
As you can see, Adams wrote: “And to the pilot who begged me to take off my mask and ‘breathe freely’, I hope you haven’t harmed any of your vulnerable passengers with your movements and advice, and that you haven’t had or become covid for a long time due to your 96% chance of encountering the virus. Umm, why would a pilot tell a passenger to take off their mask and “breathe freely”?Isn’t it a bit like a lifeguard telling a swimmer to take off?your suit and “free swimming?”
Adams added in the thread’s next tweet: “I’ve tweeted it before, but it’s worth repeating: One of the most useful and cost-effective steps the Biden administration can take (more than four loose tests) would be to make top filtering mask for other people on planes, trains, buses, subways. Face masks aren’t very expensive, you can probably buy a box of twenty N95 respirators for around $30. That’s about what it costs to buy a T-shirt on Amazon that says, “This T-shirt is $30. “
So if someone spits the virus through their nose and mouth, which do you prefer, that wearer wearing a mask or not wearing a mask?Or is he not wearing a mask? In 2020, the initial reason for face mask requirements on flights was that other people would be in tight spaces for at least an hour or even several hours. And exam after exam has shown that smart quality mask paints to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2, as I covered for Forbes in the past.
A traveler walks along the exit corridor of Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang deArray. [ ] Selangor, Malaysia. (Photo via Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua Getty Images)
Some have argued that the aircraft’s filtration formula alone would be sufficient to remove SARS-CoV-2 from the aircraft cabin. Wouldn’t this require applying a vacuum-like force just above each passenger’s nose and mouth?Such force does not seem to be provided in aircraft cabins. Otherwise, you would see many more scarves, food crumbs, hats, and lids flying to suction devices.
It cannot hide the fact that there is a high probability that SARS-CoV-2 will be present on a given airplane flight. After all, the Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet, no matter what some politicians and personalities tell you and how much they try to politicize the use of masks. Love won’t be ubiquitous, but SARS-CoV2 appears to be, peaking towards the end of 2022. The pandemic, in fact, will not last forever, nor will it be. It will be mandatory to wear face masks. But for now, with SARS-CoV-2 in sight of airplanes, wouldn’t it make sense to “air” on the safety side?
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