Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spreads more indoors at low humidity.
The airborne transmission of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 via aerosol particles in indoor environment seems to be strongly influenced by relative humidity. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig and the CSIR National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi from the analysis of 10 most relevant international studies on the subject. Therefore, they recommend controlling the indoor air in addition to the usual measures such as social distancing and masks. A relative humidity of 40 to 60 percent could reduce the spread of the viruses and their absorption through the nasal mucous membrane. To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, it is therefore extremely important to implement standards for indoor air humidity in rooms with many people, such as hospitals, open-plan offices or public transport, writes the research team in the scientific journal Aerosol and Air Quality Research
And other findings dispute that: Temperature and Humidity Do Not Play a Major Role in Coronavirus Spread:
Research headed by The University of Texas at Austin is providing a little clarity on the role of weather in COVID-19 infection. The new study found that humidity and temperature do not play a major role in the spread of coronavirus.
A doctor's opinion: This winter, fight covid-19 with humidity:
Humidity can affect transmission in three ways. First, it influences our body's ability to fight off infection.
[...] Second, a new study shows that the coronavirus decays faster at close to 60 percent relative humidity than at other levels.
[...] Third, dry air also influences how far droplets containing the virus can travel and how long they can stay in the air.
Let's not repeat what happened with mask wearing: early in the pandemic masks were not recommended.
Journal References:
1.) Ajit Ahlawat, Alfred Wiedensohler, Sumit Kumar Mishra. An Overview on the Role of Relative Humidity in Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Indoor Environments [open], Aerosol and Air Quality Research (DOI: 10.4209/aaqr.2020.06.0302)
2.) Sajad Jamshidi, Maryam Baniasad, Dev Niyogi. Global to USA County Scale Analysis of Weather, Urban Density, Mobility, Homestay, and Mask Use on COVID-19, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17217847)
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @09:22AM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wegZJI6NvpU [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday November 28 2020, @09:34AM (6 children)
- Humidity plays a role: article posted on the website of the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research. In other words: "We study the atmosphere but we're relevant in the COVID research grant money sphere".
- Humidity plays no role: article posted on the website of AZO Cleantech, a publication specialized in clean technologies. In other words: "Turn off that AC, the energy expenditure isn't worth it".
- A doctor has an opinion (but you don't know which): article posted on the paywalled WaPo website. In other words, "Click on that clickbait to read nothing of value and give us a shiny penny for the privilege".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @12:49PM (1 child)
Given the wide variation in results of different scientific investigations, I think we need to get all those scientists in the same room to hash out the differences in their approaches and conclusions.
Wait, same room? Isn't going to happen!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @01:53PM
Put them on a mailing list which publishes digests quarterly.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday November 28 2020, @06:19PM
Eh? Indoor AC (and heating for that matter) both tend to dehumidify the air. For your hypothesis to be true, wouldn't we expect AZO Cleantech to support, not counter, the humidity hypothesis?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bussdriver on Saturday November 28 2020, @07:47PM (2 children)
40-60% is the BEST for slowing spread of bacteria and viruses over all. This is long known stuff that can be generically applied probably all the time (let the experts find the exceptions to the general rule.)
The reason people get sick in the winter is they are inside more and humidity is lower plus older buildings have poor air quality; it's NOT the cold weather outside. The sunlight shift possibly contributes a bit as well but I forget the details... I do remember the humidity range chart; and the stuff about indoor air quality. Also stress weakens the immune system (ex: holidays) and good sleep matters (could be any time of year.)
As far as COVID, vitamin D is likely involved to the point the UK is giving it away free now; that is a sunlight thing but up north the UV isn't even in the sunlight this time of year...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:15PM (1 child)
But what about other pathogens like mold? 50% RH is ideal for mold.
https://www.epa.gov/mold/mold-course-chapter-2 [epa.gov]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bussdriver on Saturday November 28 2020, @09:10PM
You should fight the BIGGEST threats and mold is not one of them.
For mold, you want to avoid damp surfaces and strongly guard against condensation problems in your home which is not a RH issue but a moisture problem... a low RH helps evaporate moisture but you should be sealing and moving air in those areas rather than increase the risk of more common diseases from low RH. Proper bathroom venting and foundation/basement sealing... Dew points are critical as far as house design; which is why we should have vapor barriers etc.
If you have an air system (you should just for clean air...radiators bad,) then you should change out your filters frequently and get a MERV 12+ filter but probably it's more importantly to exchange the building air more often and get an HRV or ERV to compensate for the higher transfer rates. More fresh air helps (except if you have dew point issues... then see ERV.)
As somebody who nearly died from a freak internal mold infection; I have to say they don't know jack about mold when it becomes a problem so you do want to AVOID getting into uncommon health situations! Mine was caused by a rental where the landlord incompetently put in a wood floor in a leaky basement; the tiny humidifier accomplished nothing and the sump pump was more of an bilge pump. Didn't realize how bad until it was too late then I lifted up a floor plank... bingo. Also, none of the bathrooms had any vents (or windows you could open) which should have been a sign...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @10:36AM (9 children)
For covid they want to inject us with "messenger" RNA. Who, or what, is this vaccine going to message?
(Score: 5, Informative) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday November 28 2020, @11:02AM (6 children)
The message is meant for your cells' protein-making machinery. It says "here: follow this recipe and make this."
Here's a nice primer on mRNA vaccination [phgfoundation.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @02:55PM (2 children)
I see. It's delivering a message from the government directly into my cells where said information gets uncritically parroted over and over by my own body.
Basically like getting injected with internet shills.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @05:47PM
> ...getting injected with internet shills.
Wouldn't it be better to be injected with internet skills?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:35AM
That's right. And when you eat any food or use any drug, you are putting government approved biological compounds into your body. SHEEPLE WAKE UP!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @07:09PM (2 children)
IOW, a viroid adapted for a mammalian host. Nice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viroid [wikipedia.org]
Now, how many mutations of the RNA chain you'll need for a nice new "human spindle disease" or "human exocortis"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viroid#Taxonomy [wikipedia.org]
Place your bets! (while you can)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:19PM
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32640450/ [nih.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:38AM
Biology is like a nightmarish C++ codebase that somehow works even when you comment out the key parts. It. still. works.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @06:57PM
It makes wings grow on the back of your feet, so you can outrun your vindictive ex-wife.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday November 28 2020, @10:49PM
Ribosomes in your cells. It will provide them with instructions for assembling a protein that will prime your immune system to respond to COVID.
Note that mRNA is fairly fragile and so will only be active for a short time. Also why it must be kept so cold before use.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @11:10AM
Hawaii. Humidity. Spread not as bad as South Dakota. The prime indicator is, whether you have Republican Governor.
(Score: 5, Funny) by turgid on Saturday November 28 2020, @11:49AM
Make sure they're properly dry when you go to visit.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by Revek on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:37PM (1 child)
This is good to know. I'll pass this along to our director monday morning. The buildings humidity is currently set at 60%.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:40AM
Not much point worrying about airborne virus transmission when you bury your nose in ass every Monday morning.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @07:12PM (8 children)
"Post-lockdown SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening in nearly ten million residents of Wuhan, China"
Published: 20 November 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19802-w [nature.com]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday November 29 2020, @09:29AM (3 children)
Who modded this Troll? I don't know how relevant it is to the US pandemic but it's definitely not a troll. +1 Interesting from me.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @10:25AM
You should read the article and decide their tests are not for sick people but over abundance of caution.
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/all-topics-z/coronavirus/threats-and-outbreaks/covid-19/laboratory-support/questions [europa.eu]
People that are sick, are picked up in the 28-30 cycle range. And from the link above,
So doing 40 fucking cycles and saying "positive" is stupid way of testing.
But whatever makes you happy I guess.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @10:29AM (1 child)
And it is a fucking troll. Without any context, take out a sentence and paste it. It's not a summary of summaries with a political agenda bullshit that we need here. Think.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @11:20PM
Facts have a well-known anti-woke bias. You need not throw a tantrum about every separate instance.
If Nature journal and Chinese doctors do not follow your agenda, isn't it a signal that your agenda is too out there?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @10:18AM (3 children)
Please stop posting bullshit. They did 40-cycle tests which is FAR above of disease detection. They detected dead virus fragments and classified it as "asymptomatic cases".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @05:01PM (2 children)
According to the first few results when searching https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&q=how+many+cycles+are+in+the+US+Covid+tests [google.com] the US also commonly uses 37-40 cycle tests to determine positivity.
Does that mean that the US is also overcounting in a misleading manner?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @08:21PM (1 child)
Misleading is saying these people are sick in the first place. That's what the original poster did and what ONE line from the article talks about. When you have virus spread in a place like this, you can literally be picking up remnants of the dead virus WEEKS after it's been dead and then measuring it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html [nytimes.com]
If you are counting 40 cycle tests, you will get false positives. You will get non-viable virus particles. You will get dead virus. You can even get contamination. And it is misleading to say these are viable infections.
And this is exactly what you expect from a sample of this size. Millions of people tested in formerly infected place with overly sensitivity resulting in false positives of viable infections resulting in fake news spread on places like this. No close contact was infected by these people because these people were not sick at the time of taking that test. And by that article, they were probably never sick.
So, it's valuable data from this paper and their work. But I would not put any weight on these conclusions.
Oh look, here's another line from their results which puts everything in context,
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @11:28PM
Does it then "put in context" those horrible, horrible numbers of positive cases that everyone everywhere is getting with those very same tests? Or are we obligated to properly apply doublethink in order not to commit thoughtcrime?
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:39PM (1 child)
Considering that it's long been recognized that humidity plays a huge roll in the transmission of droplet-born diseases, this hardly seems like news - other than the fact that most people aren't aware of the fact, and it's important information as we settle into the traditional droplet-disease season.
One point worth mentioning - I recall a pre-pandemic study showing that transmission of other droplet-born diseases correlated much better with absolute humidity than with relative humidity. Essentially, warmer air with its higher water-holding capacity was much more consistently effective at reducing transmission. than colder air at the same relative humidity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:43AM
I love rolls. Sorry couldn't concentrate after that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @09:21PM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=40842&cid=1081916#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
07:12PM: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19802-w [nature.com]
09:20PM: (Score: -1, Troll)
Purr-fect!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @06:00AM
Covid Transmission Strongly Influenced by
Relative HumidityRelatives of Humanity