Quote:
Originally Posted by TommyW
interesting though how people seem to get sick on planes. Maybe there are different types of filters.
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I'm not a medical HVAC engineer, but from the studies out there it seems the risk of infection while flying comes from several areas. First it's while being in the airport, boarding gates, etc. where large numbers of people gather.
Second, even though planes may have HVAC filters, the problem is inhalation of viral particles before they reach a filter and can be filtered out. This article describes studies at Purdue University showing how particles can spread on a plane, and reach people before they are drawn into a filter:
https://www.businessinsider.com/vide...navirus-2020-4
https://www.businessinsider.com/evid...flights-2020-9
Airflow within a confined space has a great deal to do with the risk of infection, and how far viral particles may travel. We keep hearing about '6 feet of social distancing', but there's nothing necessarily magical about about 6 feet of distance. SARS-CoV-2 particles don't magically drop dead after traveling 6 feet. Infection can be spread over much longer distances.
A recent study showed that infection can happen in a restaurant with just 5 minutes of exposure and at a distance of 20 feet from an infected person:
https://jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e415
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...g-for-covid-19
The bottom line is, people gathering in enclosed spaces is a recipe for infection. It's as simple as that. Masks help a great deal, but they're not perfect. The more time a person spends on a plane, the greater the risk of becoming infected.