VANGUARD - Expressing the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
For National Independence and Socialism • www.cpaml.org
On September 3 2020 the American Medical Association journal published joint findings by American and Chinese researchers regarding the airborne transmission of Covid 19.
NSW Health Department also contributed to the findings through analysis of an outbreak of Covid 19 in Randwick in Sydney.
The researchers from all three countries traced and analysed how the Covid 19 virus can easily spread on public transport which is not well ventilated and which uses recirculated air.
The main case study was investigated jointly by American and Chinese researchers following a community outbreak of the virus in Ningbo city. They discovered that an infected person who was asymptomatic caused 23 others in the bus to become infected. They found that the virus was spreading through recirculated air in the bus on which the person who was the super spreader was travelling. None of the 23 others infected were sitting near the super spreader.
A similar study was conducted by NSW Health where passengers in a bus became infected even though some were wearing masks.
The joint conclusion of the researchers’ investigation was that the true scale of airborne transmission is not known, but that aerosolised particles (as distinct from saliva globules) can remain active in the air currents in recirculated air and potentially infectious for up to 16 hours.
These findings may explain the reason for some community transmission through public transport with poor ventilation systems. It also has implications for people working in large office towers and explains why large air conditioning system companies are now providing air conditioning systems for office towers which bombard the air with UV rays to kill airborne viruses.
The co-operation between researchers from America, China and NSW reflects the desire and hopes of the common people across national boundaries to work together for common interests.
A stark contrast to the war preparations and competition for territorial control of the globe by the two superpowers!