Coronavirus Medical Resources

How is the virus spread?

“The coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person to person. This can happen between people who are in close contact with one another. Droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes may land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, or possibly be inhaled into their lungs.” Harvard Coronavirus Resource Center

How can we stay physically safe?

“Five Rules to Live By During a Pandemic,” New York Times, Tara Parker Pope, June 9, 2020.

1. Check the health of your state and community
2. Limit the number of close contacts
3. Manage your “exposure budget”
4. Keep higher risk activities brief
5.Continue with masks, social distancing and hand washing.

Additional guidance can be found at the Harvard Coronavirus Resource Center.

Are Masks Effective?

Davis, Rick, “Your Mask Cuts Own Risk by 65%,” UCDavis, July 6, 2020.

“The researchers asked volunteers to make their own masks using cotton t-shirts and a sewing machine, using a simple protocol they’d devised. Then the researchers shot tiny 1-micron size bacteria (called “Bacillus atrophaeus”) at the masks and measured what percentage the homemade masks could capture. These particles are roughly the size of the particles behind the plague and anthrax.

The DIY masks captured fewer particles than the surgical mask, but they still managed to capture 69% of 1-micron particles.

But is that the smallest particle homemade masks can capture? The researchers stepped it up a notch by shooting .02-micron ‘Bacteriophage MS2’ particles at the masks. These are even smaller than coronavirus particles.”

Again, the surgical mask captured more particles, but the homemade cloth mask captured 51% of these nanoparticles.”
Robertson, Paddy, “Can DYI Masks Protect Us From Coronavirus?” Smart Air, March 4, 2020.

How to Make a Mask

Learn how to make and wear a mask at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Is it safe to go to Mass?

According to resources provided by Harvard and MIT, the safety of congregating in public spaces is affected by:

1. Number, density, and length of stay of the people:

“One of the biggest questions we still have about covid-19 is how much of a viral load is needed to cause infection. The answer changes if we think it is aerosols that we need to worry about. Smaller particles won’t carry as large a viral load as bigger ones, but because they can linger in the air for much longer, it may not matter—they’ll build up in larger concentrations and get distributed more widely the longer an infected person is around to expel aerosolized virus. 

The more people you have coming in and out of an indoor space, the more likely it is that someone who is infected will show up. The longer those infected individuals spend in that space, the higher the concentration of virus in the air over time. This is particularly bad news for spaces where people congregate for hours on end, like restaurants, bars, offices, classrooms, and churches. 

Airborne transmission doesn’t necessarily mean these places must stay closed (although that would be ideal). But wiping down surfaces with disinfectant, and having everyone wear masks, won’t be enough. To safely reopen, these spots will not just need to reduce the number of people allowed inside at any given moment; they will also need to reduce the amount of time those people spend there. Increasing social distancing beyond six feet would also help keep people safer.” MIT Technology Review

2. Your personal health:

“Though no one is invulnerable, we've seen that older adults are at increased risk for severe illness or death from COVID-19. Underlying conditions, including heart disease, lung disease, and diabetes, increase risk even further in those who are older. In addition, anyone with an underlying medical condition, regardless of their age, faces increased risk of serious illness.” Harvard Coronavirus Resource Center

3. Health of other congregants:

“The coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person to person. This can happen between people who are in close contact with one another. Droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes may land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, or possibly be inhaled into their lungs.

A person infected with coronavirus — even one with no symptoms — may emit aerosols when they talk or breathe. Aerosols are infectious viral particles that can float or drift around in the air for up to three hours. Another person can breathe in these aerosols and become infected with the coronavirus. This is why everyone should cover their nose and mouth when they go out in public.” Harvard Coronavirus Resource Center

“The impact of asymptomatic spread (transmission by people who don’t feel ill) and superspreaders only compounds the problem even further.” MIT Technology Review

4. Indoor vs. outdoor setting:

“We don't know for certain if the COVID-19 virus spreads through air conditioning. But we do know that when it's hot and humid, people are more likely to stay indoors, with the windows closed — giving the virus more opportunity to spread.

Coronavirus spreads through droplets that an infected person emits through coughs or sneezes and through smaller, infectious viral particles that can drift around in the air for several hours. Outdoors, air currents can scatter and dilute the virus, making transmission less likely. You're more likely to inhale the virus indoors, with the windows closed, whether or not you have the air conditioning on.

If you must be indoors with anyone outside of your household, increase air circulation by keeping the windows open as much as possible.” Harvard Coronavirus Resource Center

4. If indoors, ventilation within the building:

“Ventilation needs to be a higher priority too. This is going to be a big problem for older buildings that usually have worse ventilation systems, and areas with a lot of those might need to remain closed for much longer.” MIT Technology Review