Recently, I believe that everyone’s attention has been focused on the epidemic in Shanghai, but bad news from Omicron has come from Shandong Province.
Taierzhuang District, Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province issued an emergency reminder that a resident in the district did not wear a mask when digging wild vegetables somewhere outdoors, and was stopped at the same time. An asymptomatic infected person who did not wear a mask was infected. After epidemiological investigation and analysis, it was judged that the infection was caused by aerosol transmission.
We have always emphasized that indoors with dense crowds are high-risk places for the spread of the new coronavirus, so masks must be worn. But in the outdoors, especially in sparsely populated fields, I believe most people are reluctant to insist on wearing masks, but Omicron can be transmitted through aerosols outdoors? If this is the case, then Omicron will refresh our cognition again, can we still go out? Come hear what the experts have to say today.
How the novel coronavirus spreads
For the novel coronavirus, current research suggests that it The main transmission routes are through respiratory droplets and contact transmission, and there is the possibility of aerosol transmission in the case of prolonged exposure to high concentrations of aerosols in a relatively closed environment. Different transmission methods may result in different floor heights.
What is aerosol transmission? “Aerosol (aerosol) refers to a system composed of solid or liquid particles suspended in a gas medium with a diameter of between 0.001 and 100 microns of tiny particles.” Just like the smoke produced by smoking, it is suspended in the air and does not dissipate for a long time. That’s why you can smell smoke sometimes even when you can’t see it.
The new coronavirus with a diameter of about 0.1 microns can attach to dust, droplets, or droplet nuclei that have lost moisture, and carry out “air transmission” in the form of aerosols. It’s aerosol transmission.
In general, the new coronavirus is mainly transmitted through the air at close distances, floating in the air, and the virus concentration is often very low, which generally does not lead to infection, so opening windows for ventilation can prevent the virus Infect.
Outdoor long-distance aerosol transmission is very rare
In fact, the new coronavirus is transmitted through aerosols Transmission has long been no news. As early as 2020, the “New Coronary Virus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Plan” (trial version 6) has been proposed: the existence of long-term exposure to high concentrations of aerosols in a relatively closed environment Possibility of aerosol transmission. This transmission route has also been extended to the latest ninth version of the plan, but this time the case in Shandong happened outdoors through aerosol transmission, so it also attracted the attention of netizens for a while.
For this reason, on April 13, Professor Qian Hua, a professor from the School of Energy and Environment of Southeast University and the vice chairman of the indoor environment and health branch of the Chinese Environmental Society, pointed out in an interview that outdoor The air dilution is large, and long-distance aerosol transmission is very rare. If the distance is close, the possibility of aerosol transmission cannot be ruled out, but further analysis is required.
That is to say, because the transmission ability of Omicron is greatly improved than that of the previous strain, aerosol transmission does occur when there is close contact outdoors without wearing a mask , but at long distances, localized aerosols containing Omicron will quickly dilute in the atmosphere, so transmission is unlikely. This also reminds us that whenever you are in close contact with others, whether indoors or outdoors, must wear a mask, and try to choose a medical mask, and pay attention to wearing a mask correctly, of course, the most Better to avoid close contact with people.
How can aerosol transmission be prevented?
Because of the infection of wild vegetables in Shandong, the aerosol transmission of the new coronavirus has once again attracted people’s attention. Since this is the nature of the virus itself, we cannot avoid it, but we can take preventive measures. Especially indoors, experts and scholars have recently proposed again that Omicron has the risk of vertical transmission of aerosols through residential ventilation ducts or toilet sewage ducts.
So we must first ventilate the room, which will make it difficult for local aerosols to form, and secondly, disinfect the bathroom regularly, using chlorine-containing disinfectant, peroxygen Disinfect the toilet with acetic acid, etc., and pay attention to closing the toilet lid when flushing the toilet. In addition, Professor Qian also suggested that since the sewage pipes of general residential buildings are connected, it is possible to fill the floor drain of the toilet with water to prevent the generation of air flow, thereby preventing the vertical transmission of the virus up and down.
Currently Omicron is still our main threat, and its spread and stealth are often very difficult to guard against, so whether it is in the Indoors and outdoors, we all need to take precautions to prevent Omikron from taking advantage of it.
#Dig wild vegetables without wearing a mask due to gas Sol-borne infection# #The cumulative number of local infected people in this round of epidemic in Shanghai exceeds 300,000#