Face masks should be worn outdoors, especially in windy conditions, to limit the spread of COVID-19, scientists said. Wind blowing in the same direction as coughing increases the transmission of coronavirus.
Scientists believe that face masks should be worn outdoors in windy conditions to prevent the spread of COVID. Indian experts say that even a light breeze can increase the likelihood of the spread of coronavirus among infected people, writes the Daily Mail.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai have modeled how far the coronavirus can spread in both calm and windy conditions. The results showed that there is an “increased risk of infection” even with a small gust at a speed of 3 km per hour.
Lead Author Professor Amit Agrawal says: “We recommend wearing masks outdoors, especially in windy conditions.”
Face masks have been introduced around the world as one of the many means to contain the spread of the virus, especially in crowded premises.
But throughout the pandemic, there has been a fierce scientific debate about how well these defenses are working to reduce coronavirus transmission.
In Britain, ministers lifted the legal requirement to wear masks in England in July when the government declared Freedom Day. But people are encouraged to cover their faces in crowded places, and some businesses, such as Transport for London, still require masks.
A new study examined how COVID is transmitted in the air when someone coughs using an equation designed to measure turbulence.
In earlier studies, coughs were modeled using gusts of air, but the researchers argued that real coughs are more difficult and can swirl “like mini-whirlpools.” They studied how the cough spreads in quiet conditions – comparable to an enclosed space – and at varying wind speeds.
A study published in the journal Physics of Fluids found that when an infected person coughs outdoors, wind blowing in the same direction can spread the virus faster and further than in calm conditions. Even a light breeze at five miles per hour in the same direction someone is coughing increases the rate at which the virus spreads by 20 percent. This means social distancing must be increased from 1 to 2 meters to 2.2 meters to be effective, the research team found.
“At a speed of 14-18 km / h, the spread of the virus increases in terms of both distance and duration,” the researchers said.
Experts believe that the wind carries larger droplets longer, which increases the time it takes to reduce the viral load in the air. As the cough is fueled by the wind, infected aerosol droplets – which appear to be the main mode of transmission of the COVID virus – become “traps” in the wind instead of quickly falling to the ground.
Professor Agrawal said: “The study is important in that it points to an increased risk of infection, which can cause coughing in the same direction as the wind. Increasing the residence time of some of the larger droplets will increase the viral load transmitted by the cough stream and therefore the chances of infection. Overall, the study highlights the increased likelihood of infection, even in light winds. ”
.