Read on Twitter
Going to live tweet some of it:
#transmissionmatters
“Why does acknowledging airborne transmission matter? Because it affects the precautions we put in place.” @kprather88
#transmissionmatters
“Why does acknowledging airborne transmission matter? Because it affects the precautions we put in place.” @kprather88
Oh look the example to show short and long range airborne transmission is a gym. Imagine that.
#transmissionmatters
#transmissionmatters
Lindsay Marr’s gym hasn’t had a single case after she helped them implement airborne safety precautions. fyi
“Why aren’t we learning lessons from other countries? Countries like Taiwan and SK that treated this as airborne from the start are doing much better.”
#transmissionmatters
#transmissionmatters
“We can better protect people, we can better protect our healthcare workers if we acknowledge the importance of airborne transmission.” Yes. Preach.
#transmissionmatters
#transmissionmatters
AGMPs are a myth. Coughing produces 370x more aerosols than breathing, far more than traditional AGMPs.
@DFisman now discussing the importance of overdispersion. 20% of infections cause 80% of secondary cases. A minority of individuals are highly infectious. A series of unfortunate events leads to superspreading. High viral load and aerosol producing behaviors in at-risk spaces.
Dr Conly discussing how fast the science has evolved. Asks us to use common sense when appraising the literature.
Now discussing how transmission route is situational. Droplet — Airborne is a spectrum. Discussing difficulty of culturing the virus in different settings. Suggesting secondary attack rates are more consistent with droplet spread.
(For those following along that aren’t in science/medicine, that last one is confusing reasoning to me since tuberculosis’ secondary attack rate is lower than covid’s and it’s a known airborne pathogen.)
Ok was trying to stay neutral but he said that our current protocols have been protecting our HCWs well. 41,000 HCW infections on the job in Quebec alone. 10x the rate of non-HCWs. So no.
They cultured virus on hands, used tissues and people’s lips. Keep your hands clean. Wash your hands if you touch a used tissue. Don’t kiss strangers. Agree on that. Doesn’t refute airborne transmission at all though. #transmissionmatters
Ok back to the airborne slides because #transmissionmatters
The @WHO clearly needs an update. Scientists rose to the challenge and answered their questions. Where’s the update?
Question 1:
What’s the difference between indoor and outdoor superspreader events?
Indoor: abundant, there are thousands
Outdoor: 5 identified
Directly supports aerosol transmission as dominant. Ventilation is different outdoors. Whereas gravity is the same indoors and outdoors.
What’s the difference between indoor and outdoor superspreader events?
Indoor: abundant, there are thousands
Outdoor: 5 identified
Directly supports aerosol transmission as dominant. Ventilation is different outdoors. Whereas gravity is the same indoors and outdoors.
Reminder from Dr Prather that no one is saying it’s only airborne. Just that airborne transmission is a significant contributor to transmission and needs to be addressed.
Question 2:
What about the 15 minute and 2m rules?
Problematic. Even more with the emergence of the variants. The NFL showed with a lot of testing and environmental controls that 15 minutes and 2m were not protective. Many were infected in <15 mins and <2m
What about the 15 minute and 2m rules?
Problematic. Even more with the emergence of the variants. The NFL showed with a lot of testing and environmental controls that 15 minutes and 2m were not protective. Many were infected in <15 mins and <2m
Question 3:
Why hasn’t the precautionary principle been applied since Day 1?
“
it’s astounding and I have no answer”
Why hasn’t the precautionary principle been applied since Day 1?
“
it’s astounding and I have no answer”
Question 4:
What advice should we be giving to the public regarding masking?
We need to separate the science from the supply chain. A desire to have this not be airborne grew from the lack of supply of N95 masks. 1/2
What advice should we be giving to the public regarding masking?
We need to separate the science from the supply chain. A desire to have this not be airborne grew from the lack of supply of N95 masks. 1/2
We now have abundant N95 supply now and we now have to start using the precautionary principle and treating this as an airborne disease and recommending N95s. 2/2
Counterreponse: we need to think about the harms of N95s. Acne and eczema. Ok this is actually fully in my lane for once and I wear an N95 because between covid and ACNE I’ll risk the acne thank you. (And regular surgical masks cause lots of acne FYI.)
Out of time.
As you can probably tell, I’m absolutely convinced that airborne transmission is a significant and mitigatable mode of covid transmission. We can and should do better on this front.
#transmissionmatters
As you can probably tell, I’m absolutely convinced that airborne transmission is a significant and mitigatable mode of covid transmission. We can and should do better on this front.
#transmissionmatters
Bonus tweet to bust the myth that N95s are a scarce resource. Canadian N95 makers can produce enough masks to supply all of Canadian healthcare and there’s 3M that’s now able to supply all of North America on their own. We actually have an oversupply of N95s in Canada.
