Thread by @DrEricDing

TAXI 🚕 & TRANSIT RISK—We know #SARSCoV2 is airborne. But how survivable inside a car?

➡️Well, study now reports a car driven 15 minutes by a mildly infected #COVID19 driver (no cough/fever) left infectious virus inside the car’s air **even 2 hours** after exiting—AC was on too!

https://twitter.com/alinouriphd/status/1350500209751687168

2) Windows of the car were up. And unclear if the AC was on outside venting mode or not.

The air sampler was attached to the sun-visor of the passenger seat.
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

3) to be clear—the virus was captured from the 2 hour old air, transported up to another 30 mins, and virus shown to be cultured — which means able to be grown in the lab, which means it was still infectious.

4) Thus, for public transit and taxi, we really need to OPEN WINDOWS. Ventilation is so critical. Don’t rely on masks alone in these cars — especially if many Uber or taxi drivers might not wear a mask when alone while the car is not in service. OPEN THE WINDOW 🪟 please!

5) An older aerosol study indicates that coronavirus may be persistent and stable up to 16 hours in stagnant air. Typical air exchange every 20 min to 4 hrs, depending on ventilation, but this is why it’s so tricky of a virus. #COVID19

6) How sure are we about the 16 hours?

Mechanically generated aerosol airborne #SARSCoV2 retained ability to infect cells for at least 16 hrs. More hardy and robust than many other coronaviruses.

Here is the CDC published journal report.

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26…

7) What about opening windows? Look how more windows open, lower the risk of DRIVER TO PASSENGER transmission.

advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/1/ea…

8) VENTILATION is key. Both ventilation and masks needed to reduce risk indoors. But most buildings not ventilated well enough.

9) Japan assumed it was airborne from the very beginning. Hence their mask culture and focus on air flow. Here is how to ventilate your school classrooms if unable to open window. #COVID19