MIT Professors Argue 6 Feet is not Even that Safe for COVID Indoors
Posted on 04/23/2021
Across the U.S., state governments have imposed guidelines on 6-feet of social distancing to keep the viral spread low. In a new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers that say the risk of being exposed to COVID-19 indoors is as great at 60 feet as it is at 6 feet — even when wearing a mask. MIT professor Martin Z. Bazant teaches chemical engineering and applied mathematics. John Bush teaches applied mathematics. These professors created a method of calculating exposure risk to Covid-19 in an indoor setting that factors in a variety of issues that could affect transmission, including the amount of time spent inside, air filtration and circulation, immunization, coronavirus variant strains, mask usage, and even respiratory activity such as breathing, eating, speaking or singing.
These professors challenged the long-held belief of COVID-19 guidelines being pushed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.
In there analysis, the professors argue that is not much benefit to the six-foot distance rule, especially when people are wearing masks. From a physics standpoint, the researchers views the rules has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you’re more exposed to the average background than you are to a person at a distance.
The important variable the professors see that is overlooked is time spent indoors. According to Bazant, the longer someone is inside with an infected person, the greater the chance of transmission. This revelation would have a serious impact on retail and service workers who wear masks, but are subject to working indoors with the public.
Masks
Bazan noted that masks work in general to prevent transmission by blocking larger droplets. However, larger droplets aren’t making up the majority of coronavirus infections because most people are wearing masks. Bazan and other scientists believe the majority of people who are transmitting COVID aren’t coughing and sneezing, they’re asymptomatic.