Really important for students, parents, & educators to understand current COVID risks -- especially for all unvaxxed individuals (incl. kids <12 yrs).

#Masks, #ventilation *still* critical components.

Interview w/ @DrLeanaWen & thread w/ some quotes 👇.
us.cnn.com/2021/07/15/hea…
"Here's where the layered mitigation strategy is so important. Think of it like wearing layers. If it's not very cold outside, having 1 or 2 layers of protection is enough. If it's very cold, you need multiple layers. If you remove one layer, you could replace it with another"
"... other mitigation measures, too, such as an investment in improved #ventilation using federal Covid relief funds & keeping students at home when they are having any possible symptoms of Covid-19. All ... added together will substantially reduce transmission risk in schools."
"If the vax rate in a community is very high & the level of coronavirus is very low, it's conceivable that indoor masking no longer needs to be enforced. However, we are not there yet as a country, & that's why the CDC is saying that masks are required indoors for unvaxxed ..."
"The Delta variant is the most contagious variant we have seen, which may mean that unvaxxed children are more likely to transmit and to get infected with this variant than before. It's not clear that children become more ill ..."
"if few others are going to wear masks, you should consider whether your child could still do it. If they can, it would still protect them, but it's possible that peer pressure is such that they might not keep their mask on. In that case ..."
"... you should be asking about what other mitigation measures are in place. If there are -- say, the schools have improved ventilation, and they also implement once- or ideally twice-weekly testing for unvaccinated students and teachers -- I'd feel better"
This discusses the recent #CDC guidance more directly, with some additional opinions and analysis linked in the brief thread.
This was a similar conversation with @DrLeanaWen about #masks from last week, focused on when, where, why to wear them at this stage in the pandemic.

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More from @HuffmanLabDU

14 Jul
Story by @DenverChannel on impacts of recent wildfire smoke in #Denver. A few tips 👇. (1/4)

My only time for the interview was during baseball practice with three kids at the park! Amused & glad @CB_Cotton found a creative way to use the baseball shots!
thedenverchannel.com/news/local-new…
2/ But there are ways to reduce your exposure to wildfire smoke. My new go-to link is here by @etgall: elliott-gall.medium.com/wildfires-and-….

Tight-fitting, HQ masks & room filters (HEPA or DIY) can help a lot. I have several DIY fans running in my house right now:
3/ Also, to get an idea for how bad the smoke from #wildfires will be in your area, there are some great tools available online for free. My favorite is the AirNow Smoke/Fire Map: fire.airnow.gov. Other tools also below.
Read 4 tweets
2 Jul
Great new study on #HEPA air cleaners by Lindsley et al. out today via @CDCMMWR: masks reduced aerosol by 72%, HEPA by 65%, together by 90%.

Conclusions are consistent with messages for months, but important that #CDC amplifying this strategy.
Short 🧵
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
2/ "The use of masks without air cleaners reduced the aerosol exposure of the receivers by 72%, and the use of air cleaners without masks reduced the exposure by up to 65%. When used together, the HEPA air cleaners and masks reduced exposure to respiratory aerosols by up to 90%."
3/ "These findings suggest that the use of portable HEPA air cleaners and universal masking can each reduce exposure to simulated SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in indoor environments, with larger reductions occurring when air cleaners and masking are used together."
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
Read 10 tweets
25 Jun
This is just astounding. An excellent move toward school & community health.

“To help curb the spread of COVID, all 56,000 NYC public school classrooms will be equipped w/ two air purifiers by Sept”

And “custodians have been given CO2 monitors” /1
ny.chalkbeat.org/2021/6/23/2254…
2/ Really glad to see NYC is taking the indoor air problem seriously & adding tens of thousands of HEPA filters. Not the only possible solution, but a seemingly great move.

Having custodians monitor & make decisions based on CO2 is more complicated, but still good.
ht @citlanx
3/ As for #CO2, important to keep in mind that it can be a rough proxy for aerosols emitted from people breathing. So CO2 > 800 ppm or so usually means poor ventilation.

But filters remove aerosols, not CO2. So CO2 could still be high & imply the higher risk as if no filters.
Read 7 tweets
25 Jun
"A simple but radical change — rearranging the musicians — could significantly reduce the aerosol buildup on stage, Dr. Saad and his colleagues reported"
Story by @EmilyAnthes
A few links to various other music-aerosol studies linked in thread below. 1/
nytimes.com/2021/06/23/hea…
The recent study by Hedworth et al. from the story above: "Mitigation strategies for airborne disease transmission in orchestras using computational fluid dynamics"
Interesting visualizations of the CFD model from the paper here & in the article. 2/
advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/26/e…
Separate work on wind instrument aerosol emission.
"Aerosol generation from different wind instruments" 3/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32952210/
Read 8 tweets
23 Jun
Had a brief conversation about COVID spread yesterday w/ an extended family member (K12 principle). He said 'How is is possible that in 3 minutes you explained why ventilation, air cleaners, & masks are important better than I've heard in the last year from the CDC or anyone.' 1/
2/ He also said 'Our district did some research early on and realized how import the airborne spread was, so did a bunch of things they encouraged and put air scrubbers into all of our school rooms. I never heard anything about why it works, but what you said makes it so clear.'
3/ The short conversations underscored for me what we've been saying for months. The importance of treating shared air carefully has become common knowledge in most circles. Unfortunately, the simple messages of 'why' ventilation/filtration/masks work has often been missed.
Read 7 tweets
19 May
I had a personal epiphany of sorts last night wrt my drive this year toward COVID educ. & my recent frustration wrt CDC & masks.
A 🧵 w/ a few unsolicited reflections from my separate perspectives as an aerosol scientist, lay citizen, & father of young kids w/ health needs. (1/x)
In various recent conversations & interviews, I’ve been asked my take on the new mask recommendations. First, I always fervently point out that I am not a public health expert, and I specify angles from which I feel professionally qualified to speak. 2/
Inevitably, however, people ask about my personal choices. And on that question, I’ve been somewhat conflicted, because my opinions don’t always line up with some colleagues that I deeply respect. 3/
Read 20 tweets

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