Yes, this morning in Fairbanks it was −32F (-36C)!
Though many of the recommendations seem like common sense in retrospect, the reality is that these interventions are relatively neglected. We would have been better off if we had done some planning ahead of time about how to scale up personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks. Furthermore, common sense varies. For some, it is common sense that a mask will protect you from illness, but people do not realize that the pore size of a simple polymer surgical mask is significantly larger than most evaporated cough/​sneeze droplets. At the other end of the spectrum, common sense might lead you to believe that an improvised fabric mask would be ineffective because the pore size is larger than the typical surgical mask made of polymer. And indeed the median particle that is sneezed would go through a fabric mask. However, when you look at the droplet size distribution, the majority of mass (and therefore viruses) are actually contained in the larger droplets that would be stopped by a fabric mask. Similarly, common sense might lead you to believe that a glove needs to be rubber because that is how we get most of them. But if dexterity is not critical, one can use plastic (e.g. garbage bags). Another piece of common sense that I had before embarking on this project was that this PPE would just slow down the spread, but eventually everyone would get the disease, so the mortality at the end would be the same (assuming a vaccine is not developed in time). But in reality, since people who have had the disease generally have immunity, the number of people that infected person spreads to eventually falls below one, and the virus dies out, not infecting everyone. So these simple PPE interventions could actually significantly reduce overall mortality. Furthermore, if people can do more distancing early on, the spread of the virus could be stopped early, preventing a pandemic. So there really is a lot that we can do on the non-medical side.
I agree with you. ‘common sense is not common sense’. (I personally am on a special diet—this means i mostly have to eat vegetables, but other people i know always say ‘you need some protein or meat—that’s common sense’ . i do feel good if i eat some, but next day i wake up sick as a dog. so i avoid it. )
the only issue i had was most people do not read J Emergency management. everyone lives in a ‘filter bubble’.
I had to look up PPE—personal protective equipment. )
I view plastic garbage bags as an almost neccessary thing to carry ( large ones. medium size and small ones—they keep everything dry --small ones are good for papers and books; medium ones are good for extra clothes, and big ones can serve as a rain or snow poncho or tent . I am aware of the environmental consequences of all this plastic but for now i still use them).
When i was in Alaska i lived a 6 mile walk down the frozen Yukon river (in winter ) from Eagle (near the canadian border) . In summer i stayed somewhere else in same area. it seemed like it could go from 80F in summer to −45Fp or colder in winter.
My current area used to be the ‘murder capital of the USA’ ( but now we have lost that title to Baltimore ) but now its the ‘bedbug capital of the world’ . (There are radio shows on the local NPR affiliate WAMU on this bedbug problem—i even had it recently—i dont know how they got in here—maybe some of my guests had them on their clothes and there are also mice in here. This plastic kills these bedbugs.
(Its required in my area that if you throw out a bedbug infested matress you have to enclose it in a big plastic bag).
The neighboring state (maryland) has just declared a corona virus (or covid) state of emergency . I think they only have a few confirmed cases.
Yes, this morning in Fairbanks it was −32F (-36C)!
Though many of the recommendations seem like common sense in retrospect, the reality is that these interventions are relatively neglected. We would have been better off if we had done some planning ahead of time about how to scale up personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks. Furthermore, common sense varies. For some, it is common sense that a mask will protect you from illness, but people do not realize that the pore size of a simple polymer surgical mask is significantly larger than most evaporated cough/​sneeze droplets. At the other end of the spectrum, common sense might lead you to believe that an improvised fabric mask would be ineffective because the pore size is larger than the typical surgical mask made of polymer. And indeed the median particle that is sneezed would go through a fabric mask. However, when you look at the droplet size distribution, the majority of mass (and therefore viruses) are actually contained in the larger droplets that would be stopped by a fabric mask. Similarly, common sense might lead you to believe that a glove needs to be rubber because that is how we get most of them. But if dexterity is not critical, one can use plastic (e.g. garbage bags). Another piece of common sense that I had before embarking on this project was that this PPE would just slow down the spread, but eventually everyone would get the disease, so the mortality at the end would be the same (assuming a vaccine is not developed in time). But in reality, since people who have had the disease generally have immunity, the number of people that infected person spreads to eventually falls below one, and the virus dies out, not infecting everyone. So these simple PPE interventions could actually significantly reduce overall mortality. Furthermore, if people can do more distancing early on, the spread of the virus could be stopped early, preventing a pandemic. So there really is a lot that we can do on the non-medical side.
I agree with you. ‘common sense is not common sense’. (I personally am on a special diet—this means i mostly have to eat vegetables, but other people i know always say ‘you need some protein or meat—that’s common sense’ . i do feel good if i eat some, but next day i wake up sick as a dog. so i avoid it. )
the only issue i had was most people do not read J Emergency management. everyone lives in a ‘filter bubble’.
https://​​arxiv.org/​​abs/​​2003.00107 (and more like that) https://​​arxiv.org/​​abs/​​2002.03268
I had to look up PPE—personal protective equipment. )
I view plastic garbage bags as an almost neccessary thing to carry ( large ones. medium size and small ones—they keep everything dry --small ones are good for papers and books; medium ones are good for extra clothes, and big ones can serve as a rain or snow poncho or tent . I am aware of the environmental consequences of all this plastic but for now i still use them).
When i was in Alaska i lived a 6 mile walk down the frozen Yukon river (in winter ) from Eagle (near the canadian border) . In summer i stayed somewhere else in same area. it seemed like it could go from 80F in summer to −45Fp or colder in winter.
My current area used to be the ‘murder capital of the USA’ ( but now we have lost that title to Baltimore ) but now its the ‘bedbug capital of the world’ . (There are radio shows on the local NPR affiliate WAMU on this bedbug problem—i even had it recently—i dont know how they got in here—maybe some of my guests had them on their clothes and there are also mice in here. This plastic kills these bedbugs.
(Its required in my area that if you throw out a bedbug infested matress you have to enclose it in a big plastic bag).
The neighboring state (maryland) has just declared a corona virus (or covid) state of emergency . I think they only have a few confirmed cases.