True, what happens when someone coughs on a plane and how the particles are filtered
Experts so far insist that the best protection happens only when all passengers wear their masks, while if only we wear our mask, we are protected to some extent
By Despina Aspro
About a week ago, a federal judge in Florida, USA American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, Spirit and JetBlue – to announce that passengers on all domestic and some international flights now have the right to travel without their protective masks.
Hearing this announcement, although certainly not a few who were excited and felt to return to pre-coronavirus data, many worried about how safe their movement would be now. Taking into account the general concerns that prevail regarding travel without the use of a mask, but also the possibility of seeing the measure in Cyprus at some point, we did a research on how safe travel is in the end air travel if we do not all wear mask.
Experts so far insist that the best protection occurs only when all passengers wear their masks, while emphasizing that if only we wear our mask, we are protected to some extent. According to a previous study by the US Department of Defense, when a passenger sitting – in the cockpit of an aircraft – wears a mask, it is not easy to get sick since only an average of 0.003% of the airborne particles are contaminated. This view is supported by the well-known epidemiologist and researcher at Johns Hopkins University, Amesh Afalja, in his statements to HuffPost, stating that the use of a mask by even a single person “is very safe”.
But what happens when someone coughs and how are the particles filtered?
According to a previous study by United Airlines on Boeing 777 and Boeing 767 flights, the masks help reduce exposure to coronavirus infection – even if the person who coughs is sitting next to us. The particles are filtered in about 6 minutes, due to the function of rapid air recycling, downstream air ventilation, as well as the modern air filtration systems that aircraft have.
Finally, how much Are we safe when those around us do not wear a mask?
As it has become known through various researches, the masks KN95, KN84 and N95 protect us, because they filter the molecules of the air we breathe, so during a flight in which passengers are not required to wear a mask, it is advisable to choose these instead of the classic fabric and surgical ones, which do not fully protect against the highly contagious Omicron mutation. Of course, it is good to know that in any case when we travel and the people around us do not observe the necessary protection measures, there is a risk. However, if we are careful and use a double mask or N95, KN95, FFP2, KFN94 then the risk of transmitting the disease to us is limited.
