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The immediate future in the light of Covid and the bottom line
Published in Siddhartha Mitra, Robotization and Economic Development, 2023
While the mentioned experiment was carried out for the seasonal coronavirus and not for the virus causing Covid-19, it was used by researchers to claim that surgical masks diminish the potency of those infected by Covid-19 in spreading the virus. Thus, it seems that having the entire population or a significant portion of it wear surgical masks might significantly check the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, given that N95 and surgical masks are often in shortage and people other than medical professionals find it difficult to wear the former type of masks, the only type of masks recommended by the CDC for general wearing by the public are cloth masks. Our previous discussion of natural experiments highlights that if viral material is floating around in the surrounding environment, then a cloth mask is a physical barrier of significant efficiency. At the same time, this efficiency is significantly lower than that of surgical and N95 masks, as mentioned above, and therefore also significantly lower than 100%. Because these fabric masks leave a lot to be desired in protecting the masked individual from the coronavirus particles in the air, they are not an alternative to social distancing. Furthermore, humans still have to continue to maintain habits such as washing or sanitizing hands frequently.
Electrospun Bio Nanofibers for Air Purification Applications
Published in K.M. Praveen, Rony Thomas Murickan, Jobin Joy, Hanna J. Maria, Jozef T. Haponiuk, Sabu Thomas, Electrospun Nanofibers from Bioresources for High-Performance Applications, 2023
Madhura Bhattacharya, Shivam Sinha, K. Anand
Almost all contagious disease-causing viruses are between the micro and nanometer ranges in diameter (including SARS COV-2: 60-140nm). The conventional respirators (masks with a certain degree of particle filtering) that are currently used, such as the N95 surgical mask, can protect an individual from exposure to and potential infection by respiratory transmission and body fluids. An ideal face mask should possess the following characteristics: high filtration, sufficient breathability, and proper fluid penetration resistance since droplet transmission between individuals must be restricted. A typical surgical mask is composed of at least three layers of nonwovens made by PP (Polypropylene) fibers, namely, the cover layer, the filter layer, and the shell layer. The cover (hydrophobic) and shell layers are generally used for supporting the filter layer, to restrict the fluids and to provide comfort. The filter layer captures floating particles, bacteria, and viruses.
Platform-Driven Pandemic Management
Published in Ram Shringar Raw, Vishal Jain, Sanjoy Das, Meenakshi Sharma, Pandemic Detection and Analysis Through Smart Computing Technologies, 2022
Jayachandran Kizhakoot Ramachandran, Puneet Sachdeva
In response to contain the pandemic, stress was added on social distancing, testing, and tracking, travel restrictions and use of PPE with special focus on personal hygiene. Physical separation measures have had a significant impact on reducing transmission of COVID-19. There is a correlation between mobility reduction during State/Countrywide lock-down and reduction of transmission. Early testing enabled to minimize the spread. Contact tracing for subjects who are assessed positive is a key lever being used across regions. Some regions saw a resurgence of cases driven by imported cases. A variety of measures to spread, including contact tracing and self-isolation or imposed quarantine are applied. In terms of personal protection equipment and hygiene, early evidence in studies suggest that surgical masks catch both large and small droplets, suggesting the use of masks as a means to control the spread of the virus. Also, cleaning of surfaces, disinfection, and regular sanitization considered a best practice.
Supplying masks to combat respiratory diseases: safety index, welfare and government involvement
Published in International Journal of Production Research, 2023
Bin Shen, Yang Liu, Vincent Quan, Xin Wen
Facial masks mainly include surgical (also known as medical) and N95/KN95 masks.1 These two mask types show differences in their quality and performance. Specifically, CDC shows that surgical masks cannot offer a 100% protection against viruses because the wearers can still inhale small airborne particles (Grainger 2020). By contrast, N95 masks can filter at least 95% of airborne particles, thereby offering greater protection to their wearers compared with surgical masks (Grainger 2020). Therefore, N95 masks are generally more reliable in preventing respiratory diseases compared with surgical masks. However, N95 masks are more expensive than surgical masks. For example, in March 2020 (the early stage of COVID-19 outbreak in Europe), N95 masks in Germany cost 17 Euro per piece, whereas surgical masks only cost 1 Euro per piece.2 This large price difference also exists in China, the U.S., U.K., and other countries during the outbreak of COVID-19. Suppose that the inventories of both N95 and surgical masks are available in the market, consumers will purchase N95 or surgical masks based on the price and quality differences in terms of the risk of respiratory diseases.
An approach to compare performance of surgical masks for fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic
Published in Aerosol Science and Technology, 2022
Surgical mask is a loose-fitting disposable mask protecting the user's nose and mouth from contact with droplets, splashes, and sprays that may contain microorganisms. Contrary to what is known, surgical masks have been developed for one-way protection of other people rather than the mask user (Sureka, Garg, and Misra 2020). Surgical masks are usually three layered masks, which consist of two sheets of “nonwoven” fabric sandwiching a melt blown layer in the middle. Especially, melt blown layer has more filtering capability. Surgical masks can protect the people around by reducing the exposure of others to the saliva and respiratory secretions of the person wearing the mask. The fabric mask is made to catch droplets that are released when the user speaks, coughs or sneezes. However, it can help reduce the spread of the virus by people with COVID-19 who are unaware of it. Respirators are tight fitting masks designed to protect the wearer. The most commonly used respirator type is N95 and these masks filter 0.3 µm particles with 95% efficiency (Sureka, Garg, and Misra 2020).
Inward and outward effectiveness of cloth masks, a surgical mask, and a face shield
Published in Aerosol Science and Technology, 2021
Jin Pan, Charbel Harb, Weinan Leng, Linsey C. Marr
Laboratory studies have demonstrated the ability of surgical masks to provide both inward and outward protection against viruses. Testing of eight different surgical masks on a manikin with influenza virus in droplets/aerosols of size 1–200 μm found that the amount of virus detected behind the mask was reduced by an average of 83%, with a range of 9% to 98% (Makison Booth et al. 2013). The ability of a mask to block influenza virus was correlated with its ability to block droplets/aerosols containing only phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Surgical masks used for source control on influenza patients during breathing and coughing reduced the amount of virus released into the air in coarse (>5 μm) and fine (≤5 μm) aerosols by 96% and 64%, respectively (Milton et al. 2013). In a follow-up study, surgical masks blocked the release of seasonal coronaviruses in coarse and fine aerosols to undetectable levels, while they blocked influenza virus in most but not all patients (Leung et al. 2020).