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Really, will a non-living entity (virus) break down? I agree that in direct sunlight, some types of pathogens can be broken down. However, the 2 hypotheses are

Really, will a non-living entity (virus) break down? I agree that in direct sunlight, some types of pathogens can be broken down. However, the 2 hypotheses are that there is a risk. Also, I guess that flies are attracted to licking moisture before it evaporates. Therefore the flies are likely to be looking to lick masks if they think they can get an easy drink. Hypothesis 1: UV-C light at 300 nm (resonant size of particle) can make the COVID dance itself to pieces. > Issue: UV-C light causes sunburn and is blocked by the ozone layer. >> Solution: in Shanghai, the public bus service uses UV-C light to disinfect each bus at the end of the day. https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3075171/shanghai-introduces-ultraviolet-light-disinfect-public-buses https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3075171/shanghai-introduces... Hypothesis 2: UV-A or UV-B light at different wavelengths can cause mutations. > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mutation_(genetic_algorithm)&oldid=481243903 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mutation_(genetic... > {Bit string mutation, Flip Bit, Boundary, Non-Uniform, Uniform, Gaussian} >> Translated to computer programming: off-by-one errors. >> https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TwoHardThings.html https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TwoHardThings.html

xyzzy123 5y ago
> Really, will a non-living entity (virus) break down? Yes, this is fairly well studied, see: https://www.csiro.au/en/research/health-medical/diseases/covid-19-research/how-long-the-virus-can-survive https://www.csiro.au/en/research/health-medical/diseases/cov... and https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/sars-calculator https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/sars-calculator > Also, I guess that flies are attracted to licking moisture before it evaporates. Therefore the flies are likely to be looking to lick masks if they think they can get an easy drink. Various insects including flies can mechanically carry SARS-CoV-2 around, but they can't be infected. There are no documented cases of insect-borne COVID-19 (doesn't mean it's never happened but we can infer it's a "rare" event). UV does induce mutations but not sure that masks make much difference here since that effect will be much the same on virus floating in the air (aka primary transmission mechanism) in any case. Finally, the virus that causes COVID-19 can't actually infect bats, this would require a reverse zoonosis event. Picking up masks is great though. Personally I would recommend PPE for this (gloves / grabber & mask) if you are going to do it a lot, because COVID is not the worst thing that could be on the masks. You could get really unlucky and handle a mask with TB or something else nasty. It's low likelihood but the risk is worth thinking about if you plan to handle thousands of masks.
- peterburkimsher 5y ago
  > "no documented cases" Has it been studied? > "virus floating in the air" Air with humans is an I/O. There is a minor risk of COVID on cigarette butts, because they made contact with peoples' lips, but that is basically inhalation. I'll make another Assumption: more COVID comes from exhalation. How do we stop exhalation? Masks with 0.1 µm between each fibre (that's an N95). The common surgical masks are less efficient, but because we breathe several times, the lower efficiencies are increased. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. The efficiencies add up closer to 100%. But the wind blows! Which is why we also need 2m distancing. Yes, there's a risk in handling PPE without extra PPE. But having thought about this, if I do that, then people will think I'm professional. So they'll think that I'm going to be there to do it tomorrow. The reality is, the Bus factor on this process is distressingly low. I'm not planning to handle thousands of masks! I'm planning to dispose of every mask I see. Unfortunately, a large portion of the rest of the population decided that they don't care enough to help, which means there are thousands out there. This is a call to help, and arguing on the Internet about whether it is or isn't beneficial to the world in the precise way that I imagine it works is just causing division between people, which isn't desirable. Rather, let's find someone else who is a better communicator to rewrite this as an academic paper in order to persuade you that there's an environmental feedback loop, and we should love our neighbour.

xyzzy123 5y ago

> Really, will a non-living entity (virus) break down? Yes, this is fairly well studied, see: https://www.csiro.au/en/research/health-medical/diseases/covid-19-research/how-long-the-virus-can-survive https://www.csiro.au/en/research/health-medical/diseases/cov... and https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/sars-calculator https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/sars-calculator > Also, I guess that flies are attracted to licking moisture before it evaporates. Therefore the flies are likely to be looking to lick masks if they think they can get an easy drink. Various insects including flies can mechanically carry SARS-CoV-2 around, but they can't be infected. There are no documented cases of insect-borne COVID-19 (doesn't mean it's never happened but we can infer it's a "rare" event). UV does induce mutations but not sure that masks make much difference here since that effect will be much the same on virus floating in the air (aka primary transmission mechanism) in any case. Finally, the virus that causes COVID-19 can't actually infect bats, this would require a reverse zoonosis event. Picking up masks is great though. Personally I would recommend PPE for this (gloves / grabber & mask) if you are going to do it a lot, because COVID is not the worst thing that could be on the masks. You could get really unlucky and handle a mask with TB or something else nasty. It's low likelihood but the risk is worth thinking about if you plan to handle thousands of masks.

peterburkimsher 5y ago
> "no documented cases" Has it been studied? > "virus floating in the air" Air with humans is an I/O. There is a minor risk of COVID on cigarette butts, because they made contact with peoples' lips, but that is basically inhalation. I'll make another Assumption: more COVID comes from exhalation. How do we stop exhalation? Masks with 0.1 µm between each fibre (that's an N95). The common surgical masks are less efficient, but because we breathe several times, the lower efficiencies are increased. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. The efficiencies add up closer to 100%. But the wind blows! Which is why we also need 2m distancing. Yes, there's a risk in handling PPE without extra PPE. But having thought about this, if I do that, then people will think I'm professional. So they'll think that I'm going to be there to do it tomorrow. The reality is, the Bus factor on this process is distressingly low. I'm not planning to handle thousands of masks! I'm planning to dispose of every mask I see. Unfortunately, a large portion of the rest of the population decided that they don't care enough to help, which means there are thousands out there. This is a call to help, and arguing on the Internet about whether it is or isn't beneficial to the world in the precise way that I imagine it works is just causing division between people, which isn't desirable. Rather, let's find someone else who is a better communicator to rewrite this as an academic paper in order to persuade you that there's an environmental feedback loop, and we should love our neighbour.