Since almost all 50 states are now starting to reopen soon, the public now worries about another mass coronavirus transfer in public places like mass transit. Questions leading to "how safe are buses, trains, and taxis?" are now circulating online. A simulation video made by the University of Oregon answers these questions. The video shows how an infected person may transfer a huge amount of droplets in a person in front of him, just by breathing or talking.
How does the virus spread in public transit? Here's a video
As reported via Fox News and BBC, reopening cities around the world-- especially in the United States-- also means that public transportation must also be ready to reopen. Since not all people have access to riding their own vehicle, mass transit like buses, trains, and taxis are the only option for the public.
To show how this can be a dangerous thing for the masses, the University of Oregon, with the help of the technology of MSC Software, created a simulation video. This video shows how an infected person who doesn't wear a protective face mask may transfer over 400 droplets of the virus on the person sitting in front of him.
Based on the simulation, the infected person is seen standing in the middle of the train station. The air circulates inside the air-conditioned train. This means that anything harmful substance is easier to spread.
When the infected person started talking, the non-infected person sitting in front of him had already received the virus droplets. For 100 seconds, the non-infected person has already acquired more than 400 droplets from the infected person without a mask.
"If you are breathing and talking, obviously droplets don't travel as far, but they can travel far enough to affect your friend sitting opposite you, or someone who's chatting to you," told Dr. Julian Tang, Respiratory scientist at the University of Leicester, on BBC News. "That's the key distance. How far do [the infected droplets] have to travel to infect someone else?"
The 15-minute rule
It is advised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to always keep six feet of social distance by another person, especially in a closed vehicle.
The video also shows that wearing a mask can transfer fewer droplets from an infected person to a non-infected person.
However, if WHO would be asked, they advised that citizens must not spend too much time talking to someone else, whenever in a public place.
The 15-minute rule applies to this. WHO said that limiting the time of chitchatting to your friends or colleagues for only 15 minutes must be highly practiced by everyone outside their homes.
If you can't resist talking, wear your face mask on properly to ensure safety.
