Studying the mechanism of transmission for the deadly coronavirus and all its new variants, a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] study indicates that mask wearing and social distancing aren’t the most important variables in transmitting the virus. MIT principal investigator Martin Bazant said current CDC guidelines, including the six-foot rule, aren’t the most important factor in spreading the deadly virus. Bazant said that wearing face-coverings or maintaining a six foot social distance isn’t enough to stop the spread, especially indoors. “The distancing isn’t helping you that much and it’s also giving you a false sense of security because you’re as safe at six fee as you are at 60 feet if your indoors,” said Bazant, an engineering professor, who authored the study that goes against CDC guidelines. President Joe Biden, said today double vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks outdoors.
Biden’s told what to say by his handlers on his coronavirus task force’s National Institute’s of Health Chief of Infectious Disease Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci’s now telling Biden, with guidance for CDC Director Rochelle Wallensky that it’s OK to not wear masks outdoors in small groups. Outdoors settings have always been dicey for transmitting Covid-19, where the CDC data is not conclusive. Indoor setting has always been the main concern of the NIH and CDC, prompting the widespread mask-wearing requirements. Bazan’s MIT study raises concerns about social distancing, suggesting that Covid-19 or its varriants can be spread indoors more easily than outdoors. Bazant’s study, presented to the NationalAcadamy of Sciences, looked at the amount of time spent inside, air filtration and circulation systems, controlling for the variable of social distance.
Bazant examined mask use, immunization and respiratory activity, like breathing, eating and speaking, all to determine infection rates, but, more importantly, the most vulnerable settings in which to get infected. Bazant said that the NIH, CDC and World Health Organization [WHO] ignored the most important factor in Covid-19 transmission, being long-term indoor exposure. Bazant and his research team controlled all variables associated with virus transmission, concluding that indoors exposure over a longer period of time were more likely to contract the virus. While state officials have opened up indoor venues like bars, restaurants, sporting events, concerts, etc., it raises concerns for planes, trains, busses and automobiles, being enclosed areas in which breathing, sneezing, coughing or just plain talking over a prolonged periods of time increases infection risks.
Bazant’s study has major implications for public transportation, including buses, trams, trains, taxies and certainly planes. No one from the CDC or WHO have issued rules for airplane travel where passengers sit for sometimes up to six hour on cross country flight, exposing themselves to super-spreader events, especially for travelers who pass temperature screenings but may have asymptomatic cases of Covid-19. Wearing masks do not prevent the aerosol effect from happening because masks are not hermetically sealed to faces. Bazanky’s study shows that virus particles escape from the perimeters of masks, leaving passengers vulnerable to infection regardless of social distancing. No one on airlines come close to maintaining social distancing guidelines, since none exist. So, whether admitted to or not, air travel is not safe to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infections.
Vaccinations have certainly helped reduce the spread of Covid-19 around the U.S., European Union [EU] and Asia, where strict screenings and masking guidelines remain in effect. As Covid-19 infections rise in India, Brazil and other hot spots around the globe, the WHO has been urging caution about going back to business as usual. Vaccine shortages have slowed progress on containing infections in Europe, Asia and Africa, where there’s not enough safe vaccines to go around. Whatever the risks of AstraZeneca-Oxford or Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines, there’s not enough Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to go around. Brazil’s Medicine approval agency announced today that it would not approve Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine because they lack data showing safety and effectiveness. More vaccine delays continues the global pandemic into the foreseeable future.
Bazant’s MIT study has relevance for a world ready to move on from the coronavirus global pandemic. Unless airlines implement vaccine passports, requiring air travel only for double-vaccinated travelers, the air travel community is vulnerable to infection. Without adequate social distancing on airplanes, there’s no way to prevent Covid-19 infections, unless every passenger has been double-vaccinated. Even then, asymptomatic super-spreaders can still infect large numbers of people, especially in enclosed spaces. “It 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 average background [air],” Bazant said. Bazant’s study shows that even in social distancing were possible, it’s not enough in enclosed capsules like airplanes to prevent Covid-19 infections.
