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The Virus is blowing in the wind
The virus is blowing in the wind
airborne viruses can spread far and wide
Keeping at arm's length won't protect you
from catching an infectious disease,
Coronavirus has been found
on wee little particles of air pollution
by scientists
that were looking whether this could
enable it to be carried over much longer distances and then increase the number of people infected.
This investigation has just started
and it is not yet known
if the virus remains viable on pollution particles and in sufficient quantity to cause disease.
The usual standard techniques
to collect outdoor air pollution samples
at two Italian sites
have identified a gene highly specific to Covid-19 in multiple samples.
This detection of this Covid-19 was confirmed by blind testing at an independent laboratory.
It is most important to investigate if the virus then could be carried much more widely by air pollution.
Those air pollution particles
with the covid-19 in the air
spreading the virus even more
than was suspected before.
Those higher levels of particle pollution
could explain higher rates of infection
in parts of northern Italy
before a lockdown was imposed,
This region in Italy
is one of the most polluted in Europe.
Many experts agree this idea could be plausible and certainly requires more investigations.
Other scientists have previously found
that when they looked at air pollution particles they found find microbes
and that pollution is likely to have carried
the viruses causing bird flu,
measles and foot-and-mouth disease
over considerable distances.
The potential role of air pollution particles
is linked to the broader question
of how the coronavirus is transmitted.
Large virus-laden droplets from infected people’s coughs and sneezes fall to the ground within a metre or two.
But much smaller droplets, less than 5 microns in diameter, can remain in the air for minutes to hours and travel further.
Unsure as to if these tiny airborne droplets can cause coronavirus infections,
though they know the coronavirus in 2003 {Sars} was spread by the air
and that the new virus can remain viable
for hours in tiny droplets.
the importance of potential airborne transmission, and the possible boosting role
of pollution particles,
mean it must not be ruled out without evidence.
It is perhaps not surprising
that while suspended in air,
the small droplets could combine with background urban particles and be carried around.
the virus had been detected in tiny droplets collected indoors in China.
Wee little tiny droplets
between 0.1 and 1 micron
may travel further
when coalesced with pollution particles
up to 10 microns than on their own.
This is because the combined particle is larger
and less dense than the droplet
and can remain buoyed by the air for longer.
The pollution particle is like a micro-airplane
and the passengers are the droplets,
This idea seems plausible.
But that is the bottom line at the moment,
and plausible [particle] interactions
are not always biologically viable
and may have no effect in the atmosphere.
Other research has indicated the links between the large number of Covid-19 deaths
and with the high level of air pollution
before the pandemic.
Long-term exposure to dirty air
is known to damage lung health,
which could make people
more vulnerable to Covid-19.
It is a the myth
that viruses emitted from humans
only travel a metre in the air.
Those droplets carring viruses
are dispersed in the air
when people speak,
cough,
sneeze
and
breathe.
When a droplet of Covid-19 dries in the air the residue is carried in the air, and therefore there is a risk that people can inhale that air and become infected.
A droplet drying on a surface
could be infectious
but the greater danger was droplets drying in the air.
A droplet can travel for 10cm
before it dries in the air,
it doesn't immediately fall to the ground.
one person infected with the disease
could easily spread the virus by simply breathing.