The novel coronavirus continues to make headlines each and every day while the whole world is struggling with the fourth wave of this terrible pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic changed our lives, and this is probably for good, as normality as we used to know it became a thing of the past. The new normal involves the fact that we are living life under the sign of uncertainty, fear, and doubt.
News about air travel safety is out, and ABC News revealed the latest data in their new piece.
No significant risk during air travel
The online publication mentioned above notes that United Airlines says the risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard its aircraft is “virtually non-existent.”
This comes after a new study finds that when masks are worn, “there is only a 0.003% chance particles from a passenger can enter the passenger’s breathing space who is sitting beside them.”
The study was conducted by the Department of Defense in partnership with United Airlines and was published Thursday. They ran 300 tests in a little over six months with a mannequin on a United plane.
It’s important to note that the mannequin was equipped with an aerosol generator that allowed technicians to reproduce breathing and coughing. “Each test released 180 million particles – equivalent to the number of particles that would be produced by thousands of coughs. They studied the way the mannequin’s particles moved inside the cabin with a mask on and off.”
The tests assumed the flight was completely full – another thing worth noting is that the technicians placed sensors in seats, galleys, and the jet bridge to represent other passengers on the plane.
“99.99% of those particles left the interior of the aircraft within six minutes,” United Airlines Chief Communication Officer Josh Earnest told ABC News. He continued and said the following:
“It indicates that being on board an aircraft is the safest indoor public space, because of the unique configuration inside an aircraft that includes aggressive ventilation, lots of airflow.”
Stay tuned for more news, and make sure to check out the latest on what expert Anthony Fauci has to say about the pandemic and the currently available vaccines.
