https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/me...iego-flocks-to-restaurants-salons/ar-BB14OPpa SAN DIEGO — Churches. Hair salons. Restaurants. Malls. What do they all have in common? They’ve all been cleared to reopen in San Diego County amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — and by and large, they all require people to congregate inside, potentially with strangers. This comes as an increasingly vocal group of scientists has sounded the alarm about the danger of indoor gatherings due to the potential for airborne transmission of the disease by “superspreaders.” This week Kimberly Prather of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography penned an urgently worded perspective paper in the journal Science saying as much. She asserted, as an atmospheric chemist, that a thorough review of the existing literature provides strong evidence that the new coronavirus can linger in the air, perhaps for hours, before slipping deep into a person’s lungs. Local and state health officials have put in place strict guidelines for businesses and churches that want to reopen in San Diego. Social distancing is required, which will limit the number of patrons that can pack into any particular venue. And while barbershops and salons were allowed to open, procedures that require workers to touch a client’s face — such as eyelash services, eyebrow waxing and facials — as well as nail salons remain prohibited. Several San Diego area tribal casinos also have opened, despite opposition by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Temperature checks and routine health screenings of workers are mandatory under the guidelines. Restaurants are encouraged to provide outdoor seating whenever possible, but it’s not a requirement. It’s also not required that restaurant goers wear masks while seated. The report by Prather and other researchers was largely a plea for people to use face masks. But the larger message was, think twice before you hang out in public too long, especially in enclosed spaces. Prather specifically highlighted recent research that has suggested many coronavirus infections can be traced back to a small number of people. These superspreaders, for whatever reason, appear to be able to walk into a bar, restaurant or church, and simply by chatting or singing infect many people around them. “Evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is silently spreading in aerosols exhaled by highly contagious infected individuals with no symptoms,” the paper concluded. “Owing to their smaller size, aerosols may lead to higher severity of COVID-19 because virus-containing aerosols penetrate more deeply into the lungs.” The science isn’t settled on superspreaders or whether aerosols can pack a viral punch strong enough to infect and kill people. While some researchers have argued that there’s enough evidence to warrant immediate action, others have said there’s a lack of definitive studies. Still, the emerging science was enough to get the attention of Dr. Robert Schooley, an infectious disease expert at the UCSD School of Medicine. He coauthored the paper with Prather and is genuinely concerned about the airborne spread of the virus and disregard for face coverings. “If you want to be successful in going back to work and going back to school, wearing a mask is the best way to ensure that experiment is successful,” he said. “If you want to have it fail, go to restaurants and don’t wear masks and yell at each other across the table.” Prather was caught up in a controversy just last month after she warned people publicly about the dangers of congregating at the beach. She had to publicly walk back a theory that the coronavirus could spread through ocean water polluted with sewage, something of which San Diego has no shortage. San Diego County Public Health Officials declined to comment on the potential for airborne transmission, other than to repeatedly cite its absence in federal guidance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t officially recognize airborne transmission of the virus as a significant threat; nor does the World Health Organization. “We are going with the current evidence,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer, during a press briefing on Thursday. “As new evidence comes available, we will take the necessary actions, but right now we’re operating from guidance from CDC.” Direction from federal health officials has, so far, been to focus almost exclusively on concerns around what amounts to cleanliness. The term of art is “droplet transmission,” which refers to virus-laden moisture often expelled during a cough or sneeze that quickly falls to the floor. Droplets, technically speaking, are moisture bubbles larger than 5 micrometers, while the more buoyant aerosols are anything smaller. Local health officials have pushed for aggressive hand washing and disinfecting of surfaces as a result of this thinking. “We must continue to be vigilant with practicing hand hygiene, sanitation, face coverings, as well as social distancing, and screenings where appropriate,” Wooten said at the press event. “Practicing these strategies is going to be very important in maintaining and continuing to reopen our businesses.” Prather and others in the aerosol science community don’t entirely disagree with that approach, but they’re concerned that such measures aren’t enough. Researchers now widely believe that infected people can pass along the virus before they start showing any symptoms such as coughing or sneezing. As a result, aerosol scientists have questioned how droplets could be the dominant vehicle for transmission given the significant number of infections ascribed to asymptomatic individuals. “People should be wary of crowded, indoor spaces and those with poor ventilation,” said Dr. Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech and one of the country’s top experts on the airborne transmission of viruses. Marr and colleagues, such as Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, have warned for weeks about the risks of congregating indoors. They’ve argued that spreading events, such as that of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, are not easily explained by close-contact, droplet transmission. They’ve said the spread of the virus in many instances outpaces what’s typical for non-airborne diseases. They’ve also pointed to situations such as in March when one person was determined to have infected 52 of 60 members of a Washington state choir practice. Local epidemiologists tracking the event said that droplet as well as aerosol transmission likely played a role in the contagion’s spread. Concerned researchers were quick to point out that singing emits as many aerosols as coughing. What’s perhaps surprising is that those most worried about the airborne spread of the coronavirus have said addressing the issue is fairly straight forward. “You might say that indoors is bad because it gets concentrated, but I would say in some ways indoors is good,” said Prather of UCSD. “The nice thing about indoors is you can change your airflow.” Aerosol scientists are now teaming up with environmental engineers to outline best practices for ensuring that buildings are safe to return to. Those efforts include everything from limiting recirculated air to using portable air-filtering machines to zapping rooms with ultraviolet light. Richard Corsi, dean of engineering and computer science at Portland State University and indoor-air-quality expert, said he’s currently focused on helping schools and universities retool their heating and air conditioning systems to prevent the potential spread of the virus. “Recirculation basically means the dissemination of viruses if there are infectious viruses in aerosols in a building,” he said, “So one strategy is to terminate recirculation and bring in as much outdoor air as possible.” That should be good news for San Diego officials and business people eager to get the economy back to normal without a new surge of virus infections. “Every restaurant should open their widows if they have them,” said Charles Haas, professor of environmental engineering at Drexel University. “In San Diego, you’ve got the perfect climate for it.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/me...iego-flocks-to-restaurants-salons/ar-BB14OPpa
So many more are going to perish, it's a shame. I wish the low IQ morons would realize the horrifying reality of what has just begun. Millions worldwide will die within a year. Will someone read up on Spanish flu, this is a RNA morphing worse virus
Disclosure.. My wife and 4 kids walked the Beach in Del Mar Yesterday. Thousands and Thousands were out and 90 percent had no masks. I am sure many of us were saying to ourselves... If the experts are correct... we are going to have a massive Corona virus outbreak. And then the question remains will there be a corresponding spike in hospitalizations and Deaths. I would expect... By the way the beach in del mar yesterday was low 70s and had to be one of the best spots on the planet. Many of us were obviously very happy to out without masks. Considering the risk worth it. Afterward my wife insisted we support our favorite burger place. We sat down in the outdoor area of a restaurant. It was sort of an partially enclosed outdoor area. I figured we were very exposed to to virus transmission. None of the patrons were wearing masks and there were many servers walking around and bringing us things. == The expert warned people about going to the beach... was the expert quoted in the above article. Kimberly Prather is one of those go to experts for the fear and shutdown media. We will see if her fears are correct. In my mind when the low risk group catches the the virus(from a societal viewpoint) its a good thing as we may get closer to herd immunity. ) But, if the low risk group gets seriously ill and dies... starting soon... Then the fear and doomer's like Ms. Prather may have had a point. . https://www.sandiegouniontribune.co...ix-pThP1h9WEyPX9OoK17ua9y_FD1ymJfaRU1t_ZJgTnE
Ken... there have only about 6 "pure" Covid deaths in San Diego. We have millions of people and only 255 deaths. Statistically speaking this virus is not killing poeple with healthy immune systems. Vitamin D is one of the keys to a healthy immune systems. Looking at stats... going to the beach is very unlikely to kill you if you are not in the high risk group. Might I die... yes. But I am not going to cast away a few years of living waiting for a vaccine. I choose life and a tiny risk. It could get me. I realize that. As far as my kids... They are all fit and young. Nothing pre existing that we know about. The chance of them dying is probably like one in 50 million. Could it happen yes. Will it? Is it healthy for them to not have sports? Is it healthy for them to learn from home? Is it healthy for morons to have stolen one my son's senior year in high school when he finally was dating a girl he liked and taken away his final season of golf when he started routinely hitting 300 yard drives getting on in 2 and consistently shooting under par... When statistically speaking healthy kids don't die from this virus?
I was not painting the horror of it. I was using him as an example of how the stupidity of the over reaction impacted kids. My other son knows a kid who had was looking like a baseball prospect as a pitcher. He had grown a lot the last year and was throwing really hard. No baseball for himr. Not at school. Not in a league. Nothing. His life is now different... was it worth it in San Diego... for me the answer is easy... There was no science behind this shutdown. I don't think we gained a thing once started isolating the high risk. It served almost no purpose in San Diego and took meaningful pieces of kids lives. Statistically speaking for healthy high school kids this corona virus is less risky than many other viruses and diseases. In san diego there were only 6 pure Covid deaths. Why the fuck should we have shut down this whole time. Hospitals have layed off staff and cut others hours back. They could have found ways to protect at risk teachers without shutting down schools. Again, I think the odds are I expect to get the virus as shutdown ends because I am not going to hide until there is a vaccine. That is the point. I don't think the shutdown gained us anything. If you planed to hide... you will still hide. If you don't plan to hide... what was the point of the shutdown once the hospitals were empty. All the shutdown did was delay the date in which I get the virus. .
It really is amazing how NYC, north jersey, westchester cty, Long Island got absolutely slammed and other major cities had almost no cases. I do feel bad for high school, and to a lesser extent, college seniors that didn’t get to celebrate and enjoy their final months. If we don’t get a second wave then this entire lockdown was a huge over reaction.
Well there also could be a theory that the spread was controlled signicantly due to the lockdown. Imagine people cry non stop about a flu vaccine and bitch and moan about while most of the population gets it. 2 months later there is not as much flu or it wsa not as bad as it people thought Then people say "See! The flu shot was bullshit and wasn't needed!" This the logic people are playing around with IMHO.
My opinion is different... but I realize we don't really know for sure. There is little science behind the idea that the virus will go away because we shutdown. Any gains we made are probably on their way to being erased as shutdown ends. The lockdown did not extinguish the virus and we will likely get a new wave of infections. 2. Alternative theory.... Clusters and Super spreaders. If you believe this theory...as I do... (I think the other theory is obviously simplistic, even moronic given the difference between clusters and non clusters.) When you see a cluster govt needs to shut it down temporarily and test and trace til they find the super spreader. Once they they can begin to re open after a few days. With this theory you still keep the high risk protected but you let the low risk live their lives unless they are in a cluster. a tracing and notification app would be very useful for people going to restaurants and big gatherings. I think the app would be less offensive than a lockdown like we had. I favor the app method of tracing and notification over lockdown.