Infection in cough can spread for eight meters - scientists

American scientists have applied the theory of turbulent gas to microdroplets released by humans in sneezing, and have found that infection in coughing can spread not by 1 2 meters, as previously thought, but by 8 meters and long in the air. An article about the study was published in the Journal of American Medical Association. Currently, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, COVID-19 worldwide are pursuing a strategy of social distance and the use of protective means (masks, respiratory devices). However, in the development of recommendations, the outdated theory of the spread of small and large drops in sneezing, developed as early as the 1930s, is used. According to this theory, large droplets with microbes settle on the surface, and small droplets evaporate to form solid aerosols, and spread to a distance of up to 2 meters. However, a study by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that sneezing and coughing consist not only of mucous-salivary droplets, but mostly of a multiphase turbulent gas, layer cloud that captures ambient air and carries droplets with microorganisms inside it. The wet and warm atmosphere in the cloud allows drops to avoid evaporation for up to a few minutes and spread for up to 8 meters. The cores of the evaporated droplets can then be in the air for hours, moving in the air stream, entering the ventilation or climate control systems. A new theory explains why in China SARS- CoV -2 virus was detected in ventilation systems of hospital wards of patients with COVID-19. Scientists believe that it is necessary to adjust the recommendations aimed at minimizing the risk of transmission of the disease, according to which the safe distance to the patient COVID-19 only 1 2 meters. In addition, the considered reliable gas mask (N95) was not tested for its ability to capture or alter a high-energy gas cloud with a pathogenic payload. It is necessary to study and issue appropriate recommendations, conclude scientists. Recall, the news agency reported that, according to the chief physician for therapy of the city clinical hospital named after M. E. Zhadkevich Mikhail Glotov, the danger of contracting coronavirus during a run on the street can be very high.