[ad_1]
The researchers said the masks reduce the risk of spreading large droplets that can transmit Covid-19 infection by talking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent, according to a new lab experiment conducted on mannequins and humans.
They wrote in the journal “Royal Society Open Science” that a woman standing six feet from a man who coughs without a mask would be exposed to such drops 10,000 times more than if she were wearing a mask.
“There is no doubt that masks can significantly reduce the dispersion of potentially virus-laden droplets,” lead author Ignacio Maria Viola, an expert in applied fluid dynamics at the University of Edinburgh College of Engineering, told AFP.
He explained that the large respiratory droplets that come out in the form of droplets and act as projectiles before falling to the ground by gravity, are probably the main driver of the transmission of the SARS-Cove-2 virus.
The smallest and finest droplets, which form so-called aerosols, which are suspended particles, can remain suspended in the air for longer periods and pose a hazard, especially indoors in poorly ventilated places, especially if they are full of people who do not wears a muzzle or puts it wrongly under the nose.
The researcher said: “We constantly inhale a variety of droplets, from microscale to millimeter. Some droplets fall faster than others, depending on particular temperature, humidity, and airflow speed.”
The study focused on particles larger than 170 microns in diameter, roughly two to four times the width of a human hair.
Aerosol particles that tend to follow air currents are described as smaller than 20 or 30 microns.
“In our study, we are talking about a 99.9 percent decrease for the largest drops that we measure,” said Ignacio María Viola.
The World Health Organization recently updated its guidelines for masks to recommend that they be used indoors if ventilation is insufficient.
Masks are primarily used to reduce the release of virus-laden droplets from people who cough, sneeze, sing, speak, or simply breathe, but they can also help prevent inhalation of droplets by people who place them.
Circulating the mask will reduce the number of deaths worldwide by 400,000 by April 1, according to the Institute for Health Assessment and Metrics in Seattle, Washington.
“Foil masks not only effectively prevent most large droplets measuring 20-30 microns or larger, but they can also prevent fine droplets and particles that are released on exhalation, often referred to as an aerosol,” they said. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Air “.
